Beautiful
by HardyzAngel1
Summary: 'Rafe and I promised to protect Leanna because she was our sister, our Beautiful, I only wish I could say we lived up to that promise. This is the story of how we grew up, and learned that in life, there are no happy endings...'
1. Default Chapter

This is my first Pearl Harbor fic...I'm not sure if it's any good or not, so please go easy, if I get some reviews, I'll continue, but if I don't, we can forget that this was ever posted, ok? I actually had another PH fic written that I wrote during Keyboarding class at school, but the silly teacher deleted it, it was 40 pages long...forty.pages. Gone. I was quite upset, but read this and tell me what you think, you can review or e-mail/IM me at Silverfox41988@aol.com ...thankssss! And on with the show!  
  


Summary: Your typical little sister fic with a twist... "Destiny is a funny thing, you know. It can be the best thing in the world for you, or it can just drive you off the edge. Some people let destiny guide them, while others use destiny as their guide. Rafe and I always knew we were destined to fly, just like Leanna knew she was destined to fail."  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


From the moment she was born, or was able to talk, I remember calling my little sister 'Beautiful' because (a) that's what her name meant, Leanna Celeste, Beautiful from the sky, and (b) she was the most beautiful girl I've ever, and will ever, see. She was my baby sister, and I was going to protect her because she was my Beautiful, and no other girl could ever take her place in my heart. Even my best friend, Rafe McCawley, began calling her 'Beautiful' and promised to help me protect her until the day we died, because after all, in a way she was his little sister too. I only wish that I could say we lived up to that promise. If I try really hard, I can almost remember everything about her, the way her delicate brown curls fell gracefully at her shoulders, the way her emerald eyes glimmered when she was happy, or dimmed when she was sad. I remember the way she walked, her gait strong and flowing, the way she laughed, smiled, I remember mostly everything about Beautiful in the good times, and I try not to think about the bad, because the story of Beautiful is like the old country roads, long and rocky; sometimes they lead you on top of the hills, where you can overlook everything, see the vapor rise from the pond in the early morning fog, before the sun even begins to peek over the fields, and watch the sun as it drops behind the hills in a magnificent array of bright oranges and purples and reds, and you look around and all you can see is beauty, captivating your every senses; but then sometimes it leads you down in the valley, and all around you is darkness, and it rains on you and there's no place to sleep without facing the demons of the night, but that didn't matter, because the story of Beautiful is really a story of us all, because whatever we went through, we went through it together, and of how we grew up, and learned the hard way that there is a fine line between real life and fairytales. In real life there are no happy endings, only broken homes and broken hearts left in the dust, and so is the story of Beautiful, not necessarily the way it happened, but the way I remember it, just plain life...  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


Beautiful  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


"Leanna!" our father yelled, his drunkenness showing as he slurred his words, "Get your asfs over hea tis instsnt!" Leanna looked up to me, her eyes wide and terrified, knowing that if she went into that room, that he was going to beat her for one thing or another, and she expected me to know exactly what to do, so I racked my 8-year-old brain for something to do to get my little sister out of this, with a sigh and a quick nod for my own self-assurance, I collaborated a plan that had worked in the past, "Run to Rafe's barn, ok? I'll be there in a few minutes, if anyone asks you what you're doing, ask if Rafe can come out, and tell him where I am" I said quickly, looking to the kitchen door all too much, almost expecting for our dad to burst through the door at any second with a belt in hand, Leanna nodded, but stood still, "What are you doing, Beautiful? Go! Get!" I shooed her, watching as she took off out the back kitchen door and across the field, I watched as she ran as fast as her 6-year-old legs would carry her over the hill, and only then, when I knew she was safe, did I turn "She's not in here, Daddy!" I called, hoping that it didn't anger him any more than he already was, after a few minutes of silence, I took a step towards the door, hoping that he had maybe passed out or something, but I couldn't be that lucky, the door flew open and my father stormed in, belt in hand, raised, I winced in preparation for the blow, which came in a frenzy of drunken fury, over and over again he brought the belt down on my soft skin, leaving red mark after red mark that I could feel shaping across my back and arms, after a few moments that felt like an eternity for me, he stood up dizzily, almost unaware of what he had done, the only evidence that remained was the dark brown leather belt in his hand and the bruises and red stripes forming on my arms and back, there was a long, uncomfortable silence between us, our eyes locked, mine filled with tears I would never allow to fall, and his bloodshot and pupils dilated from the 4 or 5 beers he had, finally he shook his head and turned, mumbling something about needing another beer, and I watched him walk back into the living room, the kitchen door swinging closed with an uncanny creaking sound, I sat perfectly still and counted to five in my mind, calming myself and making the tears go away before I jumped up and scrambled out the back door, across the field and over the hill towards my best friend's house...  
  


In approaching the barn, I heard the familiar sound of Rafe playing in the toy plane, shaking the events that had happened that day behind me, and stepping into the barn to see Leanna and Rafe playing in the little plane we had built from things we could salvage from this and that place, Leanna spotted me first, hopping down from her place beside Rafe and running to me, stopping inches from me and grabbing my arm, which caused me to wince in pain, she looked up at me and blinked her pretty green eyes, questioning me before she looked back down at my arm, at the blue and purple marks on it, then back up at me, her smile had faded, and her eyes were sad, almost guilty looking, I smiled weakly at her, "It's not your fault, Beautiful" I whispered, a small faint smile crept across her face, and she nodded halfheartedly, turning and walking back to Rafe with me right behind her, she was so smart, smarter than me and Rafe, even though she was only six and we would never admit it to anyone else but ourselves, but she knew exactly what was going on, she was wise beyond her years "Hey Danny" Rafe smiled upon sight of me, "Hey Rafe" I said, looking down at Leanna, "Are you ok?" Rafe asked me, I looked up and smiled feebly, "Yeah, I'll be fine" I sighed, "Let's play" Rafe smiled, my face lit up, and I knew it, Rafe could always make me feel better after something like that happened, and I was grateful for every second we could spend together, he was my best friend, my brother, and he would be until the day I died...


	2. The Other Side

Hello, I got a review, and I just feel like posting this, but...I dunno...this isn't finished and I'm not sure if I will finish it, I'll post what I have, and you tell me if I should finish it and/or what should happen...and to my reviewer...yes, Leanna is Danny's little sister, sorry I didn't come out and say it...anyway...read on...

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


*-*6 Years Later*-*

  
  
  
  


"Where'd Beautiful go?" I asked Rafe, we were both now 16 and both living in the same house, Rafe's house, me and Leanna's dad had been hauled off to jail and instead of us becoming Wards of the State, Rafe's mom and dad took us in, "I don't know, but if we're late for school again we're gonna be in trouble!" Rafe yelled, loud enough for Leanna to hear, "I hear ya, I hear, I'm coming, jeez"Abby mumbled as she ran down the stairs in a pretty little light green dress, her hair had gotten browner, and her eyes seemed to get prettier every day, she was the object of every boy's desire, but if they wanted her, they had to get through me and Rafe first, we were still very overprotective of our little sister, who wasn't so little anymore, she was now a 14-year-old young woman, and her delicate curves were a constant reminder of this fact, "Leanna Celeste! We are going to the car, and we're leaving in 5 minutes sharp" I yelled, being sure to use her middle and first names so she knew I was very serious about it, then turned to Rafe and followed him out the door, jumping in the passenger seat of the pickup truck, and resting my feet on the dash, "I say it'll take her at least 10 minutes" I said knowingly, Rafe shook his head, "I say six" he said, looking over at me, I smiled, about three minutes passed and Rafe began to get antsy, starting the car and honking the horn, sticking his head out the window and looking for any sign of the teenager, "Jesus, Beautiful, c'mon!" he yelled towards the window, "I'm coming!" she yelled back, the slam of the screen door was heard as Leanna came hobbling out the door, limping along, trying to get her shoes on as she went, finally she snapped it onto her heel and began running towards the car, diving into the back of the car and closing the door breathlessly, Rafe looked up and smiled at me, "5 minutes and 50 seconds" he said smugly, Leanna's head appeared in between the two front seats and she smiled sweetly, "Who won?" she asked, I motioned to Rafe with my head, she laughed, "Rafe always wins" she said, I nodded, "So I've noticed" I said matter-of-factly, Rafe took a moment to laugh, and I looked over at him evilly, "We're going to be late if you don't go" I said, he nodded and gunned the engine, flying off down the dirt road, causing dirt to fly off to both sides, "We going flying after school?" Leanna asked, Rafe nodded, I had to admit, me and Rafe were pretty damn good flyers, but Leanna was gaining fast, for a girl, that is, she could fly with the best of them, and since Rafe's daddy owned a crop duster repair shop, he was always acquiring new planes to fix up, most of which he resold, except for three of them, the original one, the one Rafe flew, my daddy's that he had bought from the repossession men especially for me, because he said that a plane is the most prized thing any boy can ever own, and his 'pride and joy' the first plane he had ever restored, Leanna's plane, the three of us would tear up the skies everyday after school, Rafe and I had already decided that we were to be pilots, but Leanna didn't know what she was going to do, probably be a nurse, only so she could be close to us, because she was attached to us at the hip, but what worried me most was the fact that there would be about 2 ½ years in between the time that we joined and the time that she could join, me and Rafe had always been there to protect her, and it was scary what would happen to her if we weren't there, if she could stand up for herself, but she was a very strong person, with an iron will and a fist to back herself up, and a mouth that could get her in pretty deep, I didn't know how I was going to make sure she didn't get hurt, but that was a long way away, and for the time being, I needed to focus on the here and the now, for Leanna's sake

  
  


*-*2 Years*-*

  
  


"You're gonna come join us when you get old enough, right Beautiful?" I asked, looking to my sister who was sitting beside me, and Rafe beside her, we were sitting on the tailgate of the old pickup truck, which had been parked on the hill just above the creek in such a manner so that our bare feet dangled just above the glimmering water, this was our favorite place to just sit and talk, Leanna half-smiled, staring absentmindedly into the water, staring at her own reflection, "I guess" she sighed, "That is what you want, isn't it?" I asked, now not quite sure of my sisters wishes, I had always assumed that we would all join together, but after my sister's reaction, I wasn't sure, she looked up at me, with eyes so grave and somber that they seemed to glow, she swallowed and blinked her eyes, "Danny, I just don't wanna be like Dad" she said simply, jumping down off the truck and into the water, looking at her feet as she walked along the creek bed, leaving Rafe and I dumbfounded on the sudden outburst of sobriety from my normally fun-loving and spontaneous sister, this was the first sign that there was another side to her, we always knew that something was...missing....from her, then we almost had it figured out, our dad had a lasting effect on her, she couldn't trust any man other than me and Rafe, and even though she was sugarcoated, deep inside her was a darkness that plagued the recesses of her normally bright heart, she had seen and heard things at such a young age that no one of any age should ever have to see or hear, and so the innocense that was characteristic of youth was broken before she was 4, and to achieve likeness with her peers, she faked it, faked being naive and innocent, inside knowing the evils of the world, I just don't wanna be like Dad, the words echoed in my head, such simple truth, it was true, my Beautiful was wise beyond her years, and it was killing her..


	3. Look Who We Have Here

Disclaimer: Sorry, I don't own them...wish I did...I DO own Leanna though, hooray!!  
  


I'm not sure if this is any good or not? Do you guys like it? I LOVE reviews! They make me very very happy, and stuff...umm...I don't think I mentioned this, but later on this will be very angsty, so if depression/self destructive behavior, drinking, casual sex with random and nameless people (not descriptive, don't worry), abuse, and the sort bother you, you might want to turn around...this is meant to deal with mature subjects as maturely as I possibly can, if you read my other fics, you find that it's very dramatic, and deals with very un-funny things that really happen, and if it bothers you (not saying that it does, but it might) then please don't read, this is real...and I'll step off my soapbox now and get on with the chapter, I'm done preaching...also, any discrepancies between the movie and this I apologize for, I haven't seen the movie in a long while, and this is where things get confusing, so please hang with me...again, I love feedback!  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Chapter III-Look Who We Have Here  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


*-*2 Years Later*-*  
  


(For the sake of continuity, Rafe went to Pearl BEFORE he went to England...and well...I've changed a lot of stuff, at this point, Danny and Rafe are in Pearl and some of the other things will happen the way they did in the movie and other stuff happens too...only at Pearl)  
  


Nurses. That was the one thing every pilot and sailor lived for. The nurses were here. Rafe's girlfriend was coming on the ship that had just docked. I wasn't too interested in the nurses, I heard Rafe tell the other nurses it was because of my dad and how he used to run me down, but I knew it was because of Beautiful, I missed her. Bad. A day didn't go by since the day we left that I didn't think of my dear, sweet, baby sister, but I didn't let it control my life, I was lost deep in thought standing beside Rafe at the dock, he was looking out for his girlfriend, Evelyn was her name, God knows I couldn't forget, he talks about her all the time, Anthony and Gooz stood behind us, we were all watching the small boat attentively as the gorgeous nurses stepped off it, but none of them caught Rafe's eye, Anthony and Gooz were another story, I was staring blankly at the boat as the women walked off, I was in another world, where Rafe, Leanna, and I still flew over the fields back in Tennessee, I loved to fly, and I missed Leanna, we hadn't been apart at all in our lives, and we depended on each other, because of our dad, I came back to earth when I saw a strikingly familiar lone form walking off of the boat, if her dark brown curls and dancing green eyes weren't a dead giveaway of her identity, then her gliding gait would be, "Rafe" I said, trying to get Rafe's attention, who was gazing past the mysterious woman and at the boat, when that didn't work, I elbowed him in the side, "Rafe!" I said, louder, his head snapped to the side and he opened his mouth to speak. He didn't get the chance. "Rafe, it's Beautiful" I said, my voice not sounding above a whisper, Gooz pushed his head in between me and Rafe's shoulders, "I'll say" he said, looking Leanna up and down, Rafe looked to him and smacked his head, pushing him back, "Shut up" he sighed, looking up to the now ripened woman walking across the dock, "Oh my god" Rafe sighed, tilting his head to better look at her, "She's really here" he sounded unbelieving, that was when another form ran up behind Rafe and touched his shoulder, Rafe spun in toe with me, ready to hit someone, "Evelyn!" Rafe smiled, hugging and kissing her, "You remember Danny?" Rafe smiled over at me, she nodded, I smiled quickly and looked back to the quick approaching girl, woman, my baby sister, she didn't see us standing there, she seemed deep in thought, I smiled at her, beginning to walk in her direction, aiming to cut her off, after about three steps, my stride became longer, and before I knew it, I was jogging to her side, giving no warning before I more-or-less tackled her from behind, hugging her close, a glimmer came instantly to her eyes and spread throughout her entire face in a matter of seconds, "Beautiful" I said, pulling her away from me so I could look at her, then kissed her forehead, "I've missed you" I said, she nodded, "I've missed you two too, so much" she said, the glimmer dimming from her eye as if something dark had crossed her mind, but she pushed it away and the sparkle returned, "But why are you here? You don't turn 18 for 6 months" I said, tipping my head and blinking in confusion, "So..so much has happened since you two left...I couldn't stay in Tennessee any more...I've been a nurse for almost a year now" she said, looking down at her feet and shaking her head, bringing her gaze back to me, or behind me, where Rafe and Evelyn, hand-in-hand, walked up behind me, followed by Gooz and Anthony, she smiled, not waiting for me to answer before she ran and jumped into Rafe's arms, he spun her around like he did with we were little, and then put her feet on the ground, just-in-time for Gooz to step forward, eyeing her excitedly and sticking his hand forward, "The name's Gooz" he said, Leanna just stood there and looked at it, she might have changed on the outside, but somewhere inside was the same, stubborn Leanna Celeste; that was my sister, she looked from me to Rafe then back again at Gooz, "Leanna Walker" she grinned, stressing the Walker slightly, Gooz immediately bit his lip, realizing that thiswas the little sister me and Rafe were always talking about, and knowing that he had no chance with this brunette beauty that we rightfully called 'Beautiful', and Anthony had more sense than to even introduce himself, after the hard looks that Gooz received, and after the initial greeting died down, Leanna smiled past Rafe and at Evelyn, "Hey Ev" she smiled, "It's been a while, Leanna" Evelyn smiled too, "It has" Leanna said, sounding very slightly cold, "Great, everyone knows each other, and we're all completely confused, now let's go eat" Rafe spoke up, lacing his arm around Evelyn's shoulder and leading her away, followed by Gooz and Anthony without a word of approval or dissent, and finally Leanna and I, Leanna seeming uninterested in talking to me, or to anyone for that matter, which left me to contemplate the events, Leanna said that she couldn't take it in Tennessee anymore, what had happened that was so horrible that she had to become a nurse to get away from it? She had her heart set on becoming a pilot, and what had stopped her from that? She seemed different now, something about her was darker, like she was sometimes when we were young, not wanting to speak to anyone, keeping entirely to herself, something was wrong, and I knew it, the sudden darkness that had overtaken my sister's normal personality, and I was eager to know why, but knowing her, she would tell me when she felt like it was best for me to know, the only question was...did I want to know?

  
  


*********************************************

Hmmmm...what IS going on with her? Again, I can't stress enough how much I love it when you guys review, if I get reviews, I'll keep posting, so thank you and goodnight...


	4. That's Not Beautiful'

Sorry about the whole non-paragraph thing, I'm not very good with paragraphs, hehe...I tried to make it more understandable, but I'm not sure that I did a very good job, sorry guys, and this chapter is kind of weird, I'll be the first to admit it, but I didn't know how else to do this, so this is how it happened, I know it doesn't really follow the time period (I don't think) but let's use our imaginations and pretend that it's historically correct, hehe

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


Chapter IV--'That's Not Beautiful'

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


*-*That Night*-*

  
  


The night had lead us to a bar, the only people remaining in our little group were Rafe, Evelyn, Leanna, and I, it was late, later than any of us had intended to be out, but after about an hour we were all too drunk to care, even Leanna was drunk too, and through the girls that would periodically drop by to hit on me, I watched her like a hawk, and I knew Rafe was too, even though he would never admit it to Evelyn

We watched as the drunken Leanna talked to about four guys over the span of about an hour, and how she seemed to get more and more intoxicated as the night wore on coincided with the number of guys she talked to and how 'friendly' she got with them. I put up with all of this to an extent, the hugging, the flirting, them buying her more drinks, but when she climbed atop a random sailor and began to give him a lap dance, I was struck with instant sobriety. In a matter of seconds, I had looked over to Rafe, who had noticed this too from his place with Evelyn on the dance floor and gave me a quick nod that said 'just wait' so I lowered myself back to the barstool and watched her closely, every move she made, waiting for my moment to burst in and save the day, which moment came when she reached to take her shirt off, I couldn't control myself anymore, jumping up it took merely seconds for me to reach her, 

  
  


"Leanna! What are you doing?!" I yelled

  
  


"Hey, back off man" the man said, standing up and knocking Leanna off of his lap and to the ground

  
  


"Leanna, come on, we're going home" I said, reaching out to grab the fallen Leanna's arm, she pushed my hand away and got up on her own, steadying herself ever through the 8 or 10 drinks she'd had

"Danny, no."

  
  


"Hey, leave her alone or I'll have to make you leave her alone" the guy said

  
  


I could feel the anger growing inside me, it took everything I had to keep me from bouncing forward and punching the man

  
  


"I don't think you want to do that" another voice spoke from behind me, it was Rafe

  
  


"Danny, Rafe. Go home." Leanna said, she was angry too, I could tell

"See, it seems that this little lady you have here is our little sister" Rafe said ignoring Leanna's response

"God damn it Rafe! Danny! You are not my father and you most certainly will not tell me what I can and can't do!" she slurred, jerking from the man's grip and hopping onto the bar

  
  


"Leanna what are you doing? Get down" I said, trying to talk some sense into her

  
  


"No, Danny" she said, before turning to the crowd of drunken men and letting a squeal of incoherent words that produced a large roar from the crowd and she smiled

"Leanna, come on. Get down" Rafe tried

  
  


"No"

  
  


She was beginning to dance slowly and reaching to take off her shirt, much to the delight of the crowd, Rafe turned on his heel and began walking away, I looked from my best friend to my sister, Rafe to Leanna, Rafe looked at me

"If she wants to be like that, let her be like that, we're going home" he said

  
  


I thought for a moment, and with a quick glance back to the bar she sat atop, I nodded, not so sure of myself, but knowing that Rafe was worried about her too, so I followed him to the door where Evelyn was standing in our path, still looking up at the drunken girl dancing on the bar

"Where are you two going?" she asked, confusion filling her hazel eyes

  
  


"We're leaving" Rafe said, placing his arm around her and leading her towards the door

  
  


"You're just going to leave her like that?!" Evelyn asked, stopping in her tracks 

  
  


I could tell she was very confused on why me and Rafe would leave someone so important to us drunk, alone, and stripping in a bar full of men

  
  


"Pretty much," Rafe said, "she's a big girl now, or so she thinks, she'll be fine" as Evelyn tried to take it all in I turned to Rafe

"That's not my Beautiful" I said, daring to steal a final glance up at her, she now had a man on the bar with her and she was kissing him, it hurt me to see her doing this, and I wanted to kill that man, I even took a step towards her, but Rafe caught my arm

"This is one lesson she's got to learn by herself" he said, turning and pushing out the door with Evelyn beside him, with a sigh, I turned and followed them, it was going to be a long night...

  
  
  
  
  
  


A/N: Please please please review and give me help because I'm still unsure of how good this is! I'll post the new chapter as soon as I get it all reparagraphed and edited, ::uploads cookies and Pepsi to all reviewers:: remember, it pays to review ::holds out handful of pennies, wink wink::

  
  


Preview for Next Chapter: Rafe and Danny realize that Leanna is out of control, and the reason for her behavior is revealed


	5. The Truth Hurts

Ok, this one is rather long, do you mind? Haha, read on, please...

  
  
  
  


Disclaimer-Don't own them. Sorry. I do own Leanna though...Leanna and all of her escapades...

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


Chapter V-The Truth Hurts

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


*-*Next Morning*-*

  
  


Rafe and I went to Evelyn's place after we left the bar, we assumed that she would be home sometime during the night, so I slept on the couch so I'd be there when she got home, that's why I found it strange when I woke up to heavy footsteps running down the stairs, the first thing that hit me was the light, bright sunlight streaming in from the window opposite of me, it was morning, then I rolled over to see who was running down the stairs, I didn't have to see his face, because his voice sounded across the room in a worried tone

"Danny, she's not here" Rafe said

  
  


For some reason I had momentarily forgotten about my little sister and her escapade at the bar the night before, but when the thought hit me again, I blinked, unable to comprehend it all, I didn't remember waking up when she came in, and had Rafe said she wasn't here? She'd never come home last night? I blinked again and then my eyes went wide, I sat up straight

  
  


"What?!" 

  
  


I meant to yell, but it only came out as a squeak, my throat was tight and I couldn't breath, a lump formed in my throat as I jumped up and grabbed for my pants, pulling them up around my waist and not worrying about anything else but the keys to the car, I searched my pockets for them over and over, not finding them, I looked to Rafe, who had just pulled the keys out of his own pockets,

  
  
  
  


"Let's go"

  
  


I put a hand on the doorknob, but before I could turn it, a lone figure appeared at the top of the steps, it was Evelyn dressed in a long white robe, obviously all the commotion had woken her up 

  
  


"Rafe? What's going on?" she asked

  
  


Rafe forced a smile and instantly began to act calm, as not to scare Evelyn

  
  


"Leanna didn't come home last night, we're gonna go find her" 

  
  


Evelyn's features immediately shifted to a knowing look, almost saying 'I told you that girl was trouble', without waiting for her word of protest, Rafe spoke 

  
  


"We'll be home soon" 

  
  


And without a second glance, he looked to me to open the door, which I did, we walked out and jumped into the car without even opening the door, not bothering that we had left our calm and collective attitudes inside the house as I sighed impatiently as Rafe tried to stick the keys into the ignition

  
  


"God, Rafe, where could she be?" I asked, popping my fingers, my nervous habit

  
  


"The bar closed at 2 this morning, maybe she's outside there, couldn't find a ride, maybe she's even walking home" Rafe rambled nervously

  
  


"This is so unlike her, what was wrong with her?"

  
  


"It's been 2 years, Danny, people change, maybe Leanna changed too"

  
  


I couldn't bear to answer, I suddenly knew, it was my father's abuse when we were little, he had broken her, I always knew it would catch up with us, the holding it in, I mean, I rolled my head back on my shoulders and rested it against the seat, closing my eyes, hoping this was all a dream, but when I reopened my eyes and saw the familiar sight of the bar in front of me, I knew it was all to real, we pulled into the parking lot and drove in a large circle, scanning the terrain for any sign of my baby sister, seeing none, we pulled into a parking space behind the bar

  
  


Rafe shut the ignition off and leaned his forehead against the steering wheel, I rubbed my eyes with a sigh

  
  


"She isn't here, Rafe"

Rafe sighed, "Where else could she be?" he asked

  
  


I looked up, scanning the beach and ocean directly in front of us, thinking of my answer, when something caught my eye, it was very tiny, easily dismissible as a small piece of metal except for the small rainbow-glimmers that shone all around it, and the glimmer from the sun reflecting off of some sort of metal, but something hit my mind, like lightning

  
  


I threw open the door and rushed over to the metal laying in the sand, it was a bracelet with small stones set into the gold band, I grabbed it up along with a handful of sand and examined it carefully, looking at the inside to see what confirmed my fears, the letters LCW were engraved in it, I looked back at Rafe, who was now standing a mere 3 feet behind me

  
  


"It's hers, see, Leanna Celeste Walker" 

  
  


I now recognized it as the one that me and Rafe had gotten her for her 16th birthday, just before we left, I shoved it into my pocket and with a backwards glace to Rafe, broke into a jog along the beach, looking everywhere for a sign, anyone who could maybe tell me of the woman with elegant brown curls and haunted green eyes that we both longed to see

  
  


I was overjoyed when I caught the glimpse of something laying on the sand, as I drew closer, I realized it was a beige blanket with a body on top of it

  
  


I broke into a full run when I realized it was a woman, and stopped dead in my tracks at the edge of the blanket, looking down in both disgust and relief, if it's possible, at the mass of matted brown curls covering a delicate face, I panted from the exertion of running down the beach as I fell to my knees beside her, looking at Rafe before I brushed the curls away, revealing my baby sister's face

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


"Beautiful?" 

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


Her eyes fluttered open and then she squinted against the light, covering her face with her eyes and rolling over

  
  


"Go aw-away" she sighed

  
  


I stood up and examined my sister, with her clothes hastily placed on her body, ruffled and worn, her hair just a mass of brown that covered her entire head and face, her shoes weren't there, who knows where they were, it was obvious what she had been up to last night, I couldn't stand to see her like that, hung over and broken

  
  


"Leanna, get up" I said, louder and sterner than before

  
  


She weakly lifted her hand and motioned for me to leave, groaning as she did, at this, I stooped down and grabbing her at the midsection, lifting her and slinging her over my back gingerly, I turned to face Rafe

  
  


"C'mon, she needs to get home" I said, beginning the long trek back to the car with my 17 year old sister slung over my shoulder

  
  


"Danny, put me down" she tried to yell, but it only hurt her head more, and she was too weak to fight me like she did the night before

  
  


After a few moments, I heard heaving from behind my back and felt her body contract and then straighten

  
  


"Uh, Danny, maybe you should put her down" Rafe suggested, but I didn't stop

  
  


I kept walking until we got to the car, and then opened the back door and lay her gently in the back seat, and she didn't move, she just blinked her teary bloodshot green eyes and wiped the excess vomit from the corners of her mouth as I walked around and got in the driver's seat, seeing that Rafe was already in

  
  


I started the car and drove away, we rode in silence through the empty streets until we came to where I wanted to be, another beach, I drove the car into the sand, over to me and Rafe's usual spot and threw it into park, turning off the car and turning around to face me sister, who had forced herself into a sitting position and was now trying to tame the wild curls that flew in her face

  
  


"Leanna? What's wrong?" I asked, locking eyes with her

  
  


She sighed

  
  


"What does it look like, Danny? I'm hungover" she said matter-of-factly

  
  


"No, I mean what's wrong with you, you've changed, and I want to know why" I said

  
  


She rubbed her throbbing head and looked back at me then switching her gaze to Rafe as if she was searching for words, Leanna had always had a way with words, never needing to think before she thought, this, combined with her abnormal behavior, made me wonder if I could really handle what she had to say, with a deep sigh, she opened her mouth...

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


"Do you think I've changed?" she asked to Rafe

  
  


"Leave Rafe out of this" I said

  
  


"She's my sister too, Danny" Rafe spoke for the first time

  
  


I rolled my eyes heavenward and sighed, even if not by blood, Rafe WAS Leanna's brother too, 

  
  


"Ok"

  
  


I agreed to let Rafe voice his opinion, almost knowing that his was the same as mine

  
  


"Beautiful, something is wrong, this is so unlike you, first being so rude to me and Danny, and then getting drunk, screwing some guy, and falling asleep on the beach, what happened to the responsible, demure-yet-fiery Beautiful we left in Tennessee?" Rafe asked, never being much for words, this was the most poetic thing I'd heard from him in years

  
  


"She's still in Tennessee" Leanna mumbled, too low for either of us to hear

  
  


"Beautiful, you've never hidden anything from us, just tell us, why are you here?" I asked

  
  


Leanna thought, and then spoke

  
  


"I ran away" she whispered

  
  


"What?" I asked, not hearing her, she sighed and looked up at us through stray curls

  
  


"I ran away" she said, this time loud enough for us to hear

  
  


"You ran away? Why?" Rafe spoke first

  
  


Leanna looked at me

  
  


"Dad got out" she said, her eyes dropping

  
  


"He what?" I stammered, fully hearing her this time, but not believing

  
  


"Is something wrong with your ears? Our.father.got.out.of.jail." she said 

  
  


My heart stopped and I instantly knew, he had come back, and he had hurt her, and I wasn't there, the same thought echoed through my head again and again, 'you weren't there, you weren't there to protect her, you weren't there, you weren't there' 

  
  


"Did he hurt you?" Rafe asked the obvious

  
  


Leanna looked at us, tear brimming her eyes

  
  


she nodded

  
  


That was all I could take, I crawled into the back seat and embraced her against my strong chest, and felt Rafe do the same, the same thought echoing through my head... 

  
  


you weren't there, you broke your promise, you didn't protect her, you weren't there

  
  


"I'm so sorry, Beautiful, I'm so sorry I couldn't protect you" I said, now crying too

  
  


I knew Rafe was saying the same thing, this was the key to her destructive lifestyle, my father, I was suddenly overcome by a wave of anger and hate for this man who had broken my Beautiful baby sister, she would never be the same, and it was all his fault...

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


A/N: Ok, this was abnormally long, but I didn't know where to cut it at so what you see is what you get...or...something...reviews are greatly appreciated!

  
  


Scottish lass-I've been called a lot of things, but I don't think sadistic is one of them, hehe, but I guess that's good, because sadistic is kinda the angle I'm going for...

  
  


Kekelina-Yeah, I'm sure that Danny and Rafe would have stopped her, I think I came across the wrong way in the last chapter, I was trying to imply that they didn't know what to do anymore and they thought that if she thought they had turned their back on her, she would leave too...or something...

  
  


Preview for next chapter: Rafe gets a letter and has a decision to make


	6. Haec olim meminisse iuvabunt

Another long chapter, wow! I dunno, the end of this wasn't normally in there, but I felt the need to get rid of the darkness for at least one chapter, but I can assure you i there will not be a happy ending /i oh yeah, I shortened the dialogue for this part from the movie...sorry, but I don't have the script or anything, plus, I'm trying to focus on Leanna a bit, well...I tried...

  
  
  
  


Disclaimer: I don't own them. I i DO /i own Leanna. Leanna and all of her problems, lol

  
  
  
  
  
  


Chapter VI- Haec Olim Meminisse Iuvabunt 

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


*-*2 Months Later*-*

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


*-*'Haec olim meminisse iuvabunt' , time heals all wounds, Rafe and I held onto this inkling of hope that maybe out baby sister would come back to us, after that day, she did perk up slightly, she stopped most of her destructive habits, except having a drink with the guys at the bar on Saturday nights, she hadn't had anymore escapades like the one at the bar that night, but I didn't believe the cover she had put up, but I wasn't her, I didn't know, maybe she had changed for the better*-*

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


"Beautiful, wake up" I shook Leanna gently  


  
  
  
  
  


She frequently came and slept in the barracks with Rafe and I, even though it was against every rule in the book, for some reason she didn't like to sleep with the other nurses, Evelyn especially, they weren't rude towards each other, they were civil, but Evelyn had a very 'holier-than-thou' approach to Leanna, Rafe had asked her why she acted that way towards his best friend, but both girls had always avoided the subject, until one day Evelyn spilled the long line of Leanna's faults from training, constantly drinking and doing drugs, having sex with unknown men, Evelyn swore that once she had been making money for sexual favors, and that Leanna was just a whore, and not the type of person that she liked, nor that she wanted her boyfriend to be associating with, even after two months the two hadn't warmed up to each other, Leanna said that was the reason she didn't like staying in the nurses quarters, but I was sure it was because of the nightmares, she sometimes had nightmares about what had happened in Tennessee, the details of which she would never share with us, she needed to be near us to feel safe, either way, Leanna would come to our place and that's where she would lay until morning when it was time for work and either I or Rafe woke her, she began to stir and rolled over to meet me  
  
"Time for work, Beautiful" I said in my best singsong voice  
  
Leanna sighed deeply, blowing a few stray curls out of the way before rolling off the bed and onto her feet  
  
"Where's Rafe?" she asked, looking around for her friend  
  
"He had a meeting with…someone, don't think he told me who, anyway, he says he'll see you after work" I said, beginning to get ready being satisfied that she was awake,  
  
The men around us one-by-one began to wake, they didn't care that Leanna stayed with us, they saw her as a sister too, though none of them dared to call her 'Beautiful', they seemed content with calling her Leanna, Lea, or even Nana, if they were in a teasing mood  
  
Soon Leanna and I parted our ways and she went to the hospital and I to the airfield to wait for Rafe to see what he had done this time

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


It was nearly an hour before a very flustered looking Rafe approached, I stood and met him halfway, before a word could be spoken by me, Rafe opened his mouth  
  
"I'm going to England" he said  
  
"You're what?!" I was dumbfounded  
  
Rafe looked like he had to regain his composure  
  
"Orders, I'm going to England to fly in the Eagle Squadron, my train leaves tomorrow" he said  
  
"Rafe, you can't go" was all I could manage  
  
"That's a real war, you could die" I said, not hiding my worry for him  
  
"I have to, orders, I'll be fine, Danny, I'll be fine" Rafe assured me, "Now c'mon, I got the day off, so you should too" he finished in a very 'and that's final' sort of way  
  
I watched as he walked away, letting him get a few feet ahead before I thought to catch up, just out of earshot  
  
"Beautiful is not going to take this well" Rafe turned,   
  
"Did you say something?" he asked, I shook my head  
  
"Okay, let's go get Beautiful" he said, walking off in the direction of the hospital…  


  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


"You can't go." Leanna said in a very final tone  
  
"I won't let you" she said louder  
  
"I refuse to lose you, Rafe" each statement was getting louder, piercing the extreme quiet of the hospital ward  
  
"Beautiful, calm down, I'm going to be fine, plus, I have to go" Rafe tried to reason with her  
  
"No, Rafe, please, you can't leave us" Leanna said  
  
"Hey, why don't you take the day off, and we can go talk about this, ok?" I suggested, tired of the mean looks from random nurses  
  
"Okay, let me tell Evelyn" she said, turning and walking into the distance and yelling something down the hall about not feeling well, then coming back  
  
"Let's go" she said, and the three decided to walk home…  
  
By the time they were halfway home, Leanna had run out of energy to protest  
  
"I'm going to miss you, Rafe, please please be careful, don't do anything stupid" she said  
  
"I'll be very careful, and I'd never do anything stupid" Rafe agreed, with a sigh Leanna reached over and hugged him  
  
"I love you, Rafe" she said  
  
"I love you too, Beautiful" he said  
  
I was still standing there when Leanna opened her arms, "C'mon Danny" she said, and I joined the hug, the promise  
  
"Come home soon" Leanna whispered  
  
"Go say goodbye to Evelyn, we'll see you tonight" I recommended  
  
Rafe nodded, "Bye" he said, walking off in the opposite direction  
  
Leanna and I stood there, my arm still around her, she let a deep sigh, and without any words I kissed the top of her head, then we continued the walk home…  


  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


Before I knew it, the morning had come and we were waiting at the train station that would take Rafe to the ferry, that would take him to the mainland, we were content sitting there in silence, deep in thought, no words needed to be exchanged, 23 years of knowing each other did that to people, I was thinking about why Leanna hadn't shown yet when...

  


"Danny, if anything happens to me, I want you to tell them" Rafe said, it seemed very thought out  
  
"Nothing's going to happen to you" I assured him, or maybe I was assuring myself  
  
"I know I don't have to say this, but take care of Beautiful" he said  
  
That was Rafe, always worried about Leanna  
  
"I will, you just focus on getting back" I said, sitting down on a bench beside Rafe, about that time, the doors to the train station flew open and in ran a petite brunette, her smile glowing, Leanna ran over and jumped on Rafe hugging him and kissing his cheek  
  
"Are you sure you have to go?" she asked after she was finished attacking him  
  
"Yeah, Beautiful, I have to" he said, she bit her lip  
  
"I miss you already" she said, but Rafe was busy looking around  
  
"You told Evelyn not to come, I thought you two were in love" Leanna said, stretching out love, even though he and Evelyn were 'together' he had begged her to stay at home, they had said their goodbyes last night, I guess that's why he didn't come home last night  
  
"I'm not looking for her" Rafe lied  
  
"You're a bad liar" I pointed out  
  
Rafe rolled his eyes, hearing the train pull in, the train that would take him to England, he sighed  
  
"Looks like it's time" he said, Leanna and I sighed almost in unison  
  
"I love you" Leanna said, hugging him close, then I hugged my lifelong friend  
  
"Be careful" I said, he picked up his bags and turned to walk away, turning once more with the cover of waving to us, but we really knew he was looking for Evelyn  
  
"Please be careful! We'll be here when you get back!" Leanna called to him, he turned and smiled to her, and with that, he was gone…

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


*-*2 Days Later*-*

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


"It's so weird here, without Rafe and all" Leanna sighed, looking over to me as we walked down the sandy beach

"I know, we've always been together" I said, bending down and picking up a rock and throwing it into the water

"I hope he hurries his butt home" Leanna smiled at me, the same genuine smile she'd had since the morning she told us everything

"I bet he misses you" I smiled back at her

"He'd better miss me" she laughed

"So, Beautiful, I was thinking..." I began, draping my arm across her shoulders

"You were thinking? Wow!" she threw her curls back slightly, the smile lighting her entire face

"I was thinking..." I started again, "That I could beat you back to the house"

With that, I removed the arm that was around her shoulder and gently pushed her backwards with it, without looking back, I began running towards the house

"Daniel Walker! That wasn't fair!" she yelled to me

I stopped with a hop and turned to face her, her curls were blowing in the salty air and her smile still lit her eyes, "Oh, and what would be fair, Miss Walker?" I took a step back toward the ocean where Leanna was standing

Leanna knew what was on my mind and laughed, "If you left me alone"

"Oh? Did you say 'if Danny threw me in the ocean?'"

"No!" Leanna squealed

I was now running towards her full speed

"No! Daniel Walker! Leave me alone!" she screamed, running a little bit into the shallow water

"What's that? You want to play?" I asked, beaming at her as I grasped her around the waist and tackled her into the water without going down myself

"Danny!" she yelped, the waves soaking her from head to toe, her hair turning even more curly than before in the wetness, she reached her hand up for me to help her up with a 'yeah, you got me' smile, I, being the good brother I am, reached down to help her up, only to be overpowered by a much smaller Leanna, she pulled me down in the water beside her, the waves lapping up around our ribs

"Leanna Celeste!" I cried, raising my arms and shaking off the excess water, then looking over to Leanna, who was all but rolling in the sand laughing hysterically, it had been a while since I'd seen her that happy, with a smile of satisfaction, I waited for her laughing fit to end before I spoke

"C'mon, let's go inside and change out of these wet clothes" I suggested

Leanna nodded, tears from laughter in her eyes

Both of us stood at the same time and began the journey back to the nurse's house, I was glad she was back to normal and that watching out for her wasn't a 24/7 job anymore, but mostly, I was glad she was smiling and laughing again

I looked over at her, she was very beautiful, she was very small, only weighing about 110 pounds, I watched as she worked on making her drenched hair into perfect ringlets and kicked the sand absentmindedly, and I had a new thought

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


For the first time in my life, I felt like we were going to be alright.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


A/N: heyy people...I'm glad people are still reviewing, though I'm not sure if the reviews are a bad thing or a good thing, but I see them as a good thing, I'm getting the reaction I want...

  
  


u scottish lass /u-this chapter was for you, I tried to keep the 'near-prozac-treatment-stuff' to a minimum in this one, but I can't promise that for the next few chapters ::wink:: and this fic is meant to be dark, and I know I say that a lot, but I'm really nervous since this is my first actual dark fic...and I don't get where the 'kinda sorta' part came from, sorry, I'm blonde, in case you couldn't tell, lol

  
  


u greenfairie /u-I'm glad you like it! and don't worry, I always try to go out with a bang, hehe


	7. And Then There Were Two

New chapter...trying to get along with this as much as possible...I lost a reviewer/reader :(:( that makes me sad...but the show must go on...

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


Chapter VII-And Then There Were Two...

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


*-*Days stretched to weeks, and weeks to a month, things went on as usual for the most part, Leanna missed Rafe like a little girl misses her lost puppy, and I could see why, Rafe and I were all she had, and the thought of losing one of us devastated her, but I reassured her time and time again that he would be fine, and he'd be home soon, that was, until one day*-*  
  
  
I read the words over and over again  
  
My body went numb, tears welled into my eyes as I watched the yellow paper flutter to the ground, I didn't remember dropping it, but I must have, I was struggling to breathe and think, so much at the same time, Leanna, Evelyn, so much on my mind, everything hit me all at once in the form of a wave of tears Beautiful, I have to tell Leanna was my first thought, I wanted to move, to run out the door, but my legs were numb to the bone, my knees like jelly  
  
I took quick, choppy breaths to steady myself, then blinked back the tears, gaining what little strength I could and leaving out the door, Leanna, where is Leanna? The beach? No, it's a weekday. She's at the hospital I thought, taking short breaths only to make sure I didn't faint, the entire walk to the hospital was a blur to me, I remembered that it was Evelyn's day off, and as I approached the hospital, the feeling in the pit of my stomach was getting worse, not only had I become a complete emotional wreck in a matter of minutes, but now I had to tell my little sister that our best friend, our brother, had died  
  
With a deep sigh, I reached for the door, and opened it, walking in absentmindedly and searching the room for Leanna, my eyes filled with tears, then I spotted her, taking another deep breath to make the tears go away, I walked over to her, no words needed to be spoken, one look into my brown eyes and she blinked, dropping the chart from her hands and shaking her head, and running to me, tears overflowing her eyes, she wrapped her arms around my neck in a tight embrace, still shaking her head and whispering "No, not Rafe" as she sobbed into my shoulder, what was I supposed to do? She was my baby sister, and Rafe was her best friend  
  
I kissed her brown curls and stroked her back as the other nurses looked on in shock, after a good 10 minutes of sobbing into each other's shoulders, completely oblivious that we were still standing in the middle of the hospital, Leanna stepped back, wiping the tears from her emerald eyes and drawing a long, shaky breath to steady herself, then looked up  
  
"Evelyn, have you told Evelyn?"  
  
I shook my head  
  
"She's at home, she needs to know"  
  
I nodded  
  
I would tell Evelyn, I just needed a moment to think…  


  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


*-*2 Weeks Later*-*  
  
  


  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


*-*3 AM*-*  
  
  
The door swung open and in walked a droopy-faced, bloodshot eyed, obviously drunk, Leanna, she was so drunk that she was dragging her feet across the floor involuntarily, making loud scraping noises with each step, she fumbled for the light switch, groping the wall blindly until her hand mistakenly grazed the switch, causing light to flood the room, her hands immediately flew to her eyes and she winced against the light, when she finally opened her eyes, she let a deep sigh and rolled them back into her head at the sight before her  
  
"Beautiful, where have you been?"   
  
I had been waiting for her all night after she left with some guys from the barracks beside mine; I was still wide-awake with worry and impatience, waiting for her to drag herself in the door like she did nearly every night  
  
"Oh Danny, not tonight" she groaned, trying to weave around me, I stopped her  
  
"You should have thought about that before you went out," I said  
  
She had been like this since we got word on Rafe's death, her happy-go-lucky self vanished after a grieving period of about a week, where she locked herself in her room and cried, wouldn't eat, she wasted away to almost nothing and turned into a ghost of her former self, now she was back on the same self-destructive path as before, the drinking, the drugs, and the sex  
  
"Dammit Danny, let me through" she said angrily, reaching her hands out in an attempt that was probably meant to push me away, but she missed entirely  
  
"No, Leanna, not until you promise you won't do this anymore" I said sternly  
  
"Ok, ok, I promise just mo-" her eyes suddenly went wide and she brought her hands over her mouth  
  
"Oh no, here we go" I mumbled, placing my arm around her and more-or-less dragging her to the kitchen sink where she emptied her stomach into it before raising and wiping the excess vomit and stray curls from her face, breathing heavily to catch her breath  
  
"Come on, let's get you to bed" I said, she was out of it by this point, so I supported her shoulders and gently put my arms in the bend of her knees, picking her up and carrying her up the stairs like a little baby  
  
I knew the promise she made meant nothing, that she would go out and do the same thing tomorrow, and I would be here again, to lay with her all night, I could only hope that this would pass, because she was hard enough to handle when both Rafe and I were here, but with Rafe gone, I wasn't sure if I could handle her, Rafe, I missed him so much, my grieving period had been cut short when I had to take care of Leanna, but that's what he wanted, to make sure we were alright, he cared about her most  
  
Leanna made a loud gagging sound as we walked down the hall, nothing came of it, but it did manage to bring Evelyn to the door, she gave me a knowing look and whispered something about not waking the others, I smiled at her and moved on to the room next to hers, Leanna's room, and pushed the door open with my back, I walked in and felt my way across the dark room to the bed, sitting down on it and swinging Leanna's legs out of my arms and on top of the blanket, then gently laying her head on the pillow she groaned as I took her shoes off and maneuvered her under the blanket, she rolled over instantly

  
  


"There you go, Beautiful" I said, kissing her temple

"Danny, don't leave" she groaned when she heard my footsteps creaking across the wooden floor

I sighed and turned around

"I'm here" I said, walking to the other side of the bed and laying down beside her

She rolled over next to me and huddled herself against my chest, smiling and sighing in contentment

About five minutes passed before I heard soft sobs coming from her, I reached down and stroked her curls

"What's wrong, Beautiful?" I whispered

"I can't believe him" she sobbed

"Who?" I asked, wondering if it was some random guy she had met

"Rafe, I can't believe he went off and got himself killed" she sniffed

I sighed, "Beautiful, he didn't know"

"He promised me he'd be careful"

"I know"

"How could he do that, Danny?"

"He didn't mean to, Rafe loved you very much, Beautiful, had he known he wasn't going to come back, he would never have gone" I said, pulling her sobbing form closer to me

"Don't ever leave me, Danny"

"I won't, Beautiful, you don't have to worry" and with that, I kissed the top of her head and stroked her back until she fell asleep...

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


A/N: Thanks so much to all my loyal readers! I love your reviews and even e-mails would be greatly appreciated! 

  
  
  
  


Preview for Next Chapter: Secrets are revealed that will forever change Danny and Leanna...


	8. The Inevitable Surprise

Mmkay, here's another chapter, how wonderful, I still love all my loyal readers...

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


Chapter VIII-The Inevitable Surprise

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


*-*One Month Later*-*

  
  
  
  
  
  


Leanna rolled over and stretched

  
  


"Morning, Beautiful" I said from my place next to the window, holding my mug of coffee, her eyes jolted open with a start

  
  


"Danny? What are you doing here?" she asked groggily

  
  


"I just came over to see my baby sister, what's the problem with that?" I said, sipping the steaming mug and walking over to the bed where she lay and handed her my coffee, she looked at the clock

  
  


"Danny, it's Sunday, and it's 8:30, why are you here?" she asked again

  
  


"You just haven't wanted to talk to me lately, and so I figured I'd catch you when you couldn't get away" I said, she sighed

  
  


"It isn't going to work, Danny, I'm fine, nothing is wrong" she said, staring absentmindedly out the window at the sun rising over the ocean

  
  


"Something is wrong, you've hardly eaten for a week and you won't talk to anyone" I said, I could tell she was longing for sleep again

  
  


Leanna sighed, "I never could hide anything from you" she said, looking down and studying the hot liquid in her cup

  
  


"Just tell me, Beautiful" I said, purposely burning holes in the top of her head with my glare

  
  


She shook her head and rubbed at her eyes, never looking up at me, "I can't" she whispered, if I didn't know better, I would have said she was crying

  
  


"Please? I need to know" I said, trying to see under the mass of curls and at her face

  
  


She looked up at me and confirmed my fears, fresh tears were rolling down her troubled cheeks, she started to open her mouth, but instead shook her head furiously

  
  


"Beautiful, talk to me, you're all I have left" I sighed to her, sitting next to her and draping my arm around her 

  
  


She looked up and sighed

  
  


"Danny, I'm pregnant, about 2 months," she paused, her voice lowering, "The father wants nothing to do with this"

  
  


And with that, she broke down into sobs, leaving me sitting there dumbfounded, all I could do was gently rub her back

  
  


"Oh Beautiful, c'mere" I finally said, shifting her into my lap and rocking her back and forth

  
  


"We're going to get through this, Beautiful" I said, only trying to assure myself

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


For the first time since I had vowed to move on, I really wished Rafe was here 

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


*-*2 Months Later*-*

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


Leanna sighed and shifted uncomfortably on the table, we were in the back room of the hospital waiting for Evelyn to discreetly roll in an ultrasound machine for Leanna's 4 month checkup

  
  


"Beautiful, I don't know why we couldn't just go to the hospital in town" I sighed

  
  


"I told you, I don't like to go that far when what we need is right here" she sighed

  
  


I opened my mouth to protest but was cut off by the door opening and Evelyn walking in, rolling a large ultrasound machine in front of her

  
  


"Ok, and here we go" Evelyn smiled at me, but avoided Leanna's eyes

  
  


"Ev, are you really qualified to use that thing?" I asked, watching her plug it in and flip a few switches that turned the small screen on

  
  


"Yeah, I started out in OB before I joined the Navy" she said, grabbing a bottle and squirting gel onto Leanna's stomach

  
  


"That's good to know" I muttered as she dragged the sensor over Leanna's swollen abdomen and watched as a picture formed on the screen

  
  


Evelyn searched for something inside of Leanna for a few more seconds before she pointed to the monitor

  
  


"There's your baby" a smile actually grazed her lips, "see, the heart and the head and there's a hand" she said, pointing to different places on the screen, I didn't understand it, but Leanna's smile increased and she looked at me, I returned her smile, glad at least one of us got it

  
  


About five minutes passed before Evelyn sighed, "Well, you're healthy, we'll do this again in 2 months, ok?"

  
  


Leanna smiled and waited until Evelyn was out of the room before she swung her legs over the side of the table and hopping down, gentle not to hurt her growing stomach

  
  


"See, that wasn't so bad" she smiled

  
  


"Yeah, yeah, I see" I said

  
  


"Turn around" she sighed impatiently, holding up her clothes

  
  


I sighed and turned to face the wall, she dressed quickly, never being the one to want to be in a hospital for very long

  
  


"Ready?" she asked

  
  


I nodded and put my arm around her to lead her out the door

  
  


We walked out of the hospital, being as discreet as possible, since Evelyn could get in trouble for dispensing free medical services with a machine borrowed from another hospital

  
  


The sun was almost setting when we walked out, Leanna looking around with a sigh

  
  


"I'm hungry" she said, looking up, "Can we get some pickles?"

  
  


I laughed at her strange eating habits and began to nod when Evelyn appeared behind me

  
  


"Danny" she whispered, I looked at her, and then at Leanna

  
  


"Beautiful, wait in the car, I'll be right back" I said

  
  


"Sure" she said, climbing into the passenger seat 

  
  


I turned to Evelyn, "What is it?"

  
  


"I just wanted you to know that I'm doing this for you, and because it's what Rafe would want, I still think it's her own fault for getting herself knocked up, and I still don't like her, so don't get any ideas about us being friends" she blurted

  
  


"I wouldn't dream of it, Ev" I said, forcing a smile

  
  


"I'll see you later" she said, turning and walking back into the hospital

  
  


"Yeah" I said, turning and walking back to the car, climbing in and starting it

  
  


"Ok, let's go get some pickles"

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


A/N: yeah...about that...how'd you like it? Inevitably surprising, huh? How dramatically ironic! (Lol to my World Studies pals) ok, so, I'm posting chapters quicker than I can write them...PLEASE REVIEW, it's the only thing that's keeping me posting this fic!

  
  
  
  


Preview for next chapter: Even more surprises! 


	9. Revivification

I got no reviews :( I guess no one likes that Leanna's pregnant, oh well, this is still fun to write, and it's almost all written, so I'll keep posting so PLEASE REVIEW? I'm beggin ya...

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


Chapter IX-Revivification

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


*Later*

  
  


"Beautiful, just be still, I'll be right back, I just have to go to the barracks to get my mail" I said, leaving Leanna sitting in the courtyard near the barrack

  
  


"Hurry, I don't like being alone, it's dark" she said, placing a defensive hand over her abdomen and looking up

  
  


I nodded, jogging off in the direction of the barracks, it was only a five minute jog, so I was there quickly, as usual, Red had left my mail laying on my empty bunk, just below Rafe's bed, I quickly sorted through it, junk, junk, junk, and a letter, the latter was most curious, since I knew no one who would need to send me a letter, maybe it was a nurse or something, assuming I had time to spare after my quick arrival, I tore the letter open, sitting down on my bed and reading the words

  
  


The first thing that caught my eye was the almost illegible scrawl, and all the misspellings, it struck me as odd, but I passed it off as my mind until I read the first words

  
  


'Danny, I am alive'

  
  


It was to much to be a coincidence, I glanced at the bottom and read the name of the sender...

  
  


"Rafe" I read it out loud, I took two long, deep breaths, a smile of pure joy and disbelief spreading across my face, that's when I jumped up and took off out the door, running full speed toward the courtyard

  
  


**In the Courtyard**

  
  


Leanna sat still, shaking her legs back and forth and singing a song in her head to pass the time, she wondered briefly what in the world was taking that brother of hers before going back to her routine

  
  


"Beautiful" a voice pierced the silence, for a moment she wondered if it was her imagination or if she had really head a voice call her pet name

  
  


"Danny?" she called into the air, "Is that you?"

  
  


"Beautiful, over here" the voice said, it struck her as oddly familiar, but she passed it off as Danny playing tricks on her

  
  


"Danny, really, I'm tired and I want to go home, stop playing games" she sighed, turning around to face someone that was still covered in shadows

  
  


"Beautiful, it's me" they said, Leanna took a quick breath, the voice, it sounded like..

  
  


"Rafe?" she questioned, reaching out to touch the shadowed person

  
  


"It's me" he said, Leanna's questioning look turned to a look of defiance and hurt and she quickly pulled back

  
  


"N-no, Rafe is dead, he was shot down over the ocean, he's dead, who are you?" she said, the moonlight reflecting off of the tears that were mounting in her eyes

  
  


"Beautiful..." he said, his voice trailing off, he stepped into the bluish moonlight and Leanna looked up at him, she gasped and let a little squeak come from her mouth, all it took was one look into his eyes and Leanna instantly clung to him, tears erupting from her

  
  


"T-they told us that you di-died, they told me and Da-Danny that you got shot down and that you di-died" she sobbed

  
  


"Shh, it's ok, I'm here now" he said as he stroked her back and kissed her head, what else was he supposed to do?

  
  


*-*Back to Danny's POV*-*

  
  


I ran up to the courtyard, out of breath, only to hear the sobs of Leanna

  
  


"Beautiful?" I called

  
  


"Da-Danny" a soft voice called back

  
  


"Are you alright?" I asked, pushing limbs out of my way as I spoke

  
  


"Oh my god" was all I could muster when I saw the sight in front of me, my thought deceased friend was hugging my baby sister, it took a moment for me to regain my composure, taking two deep breaths and stepping forward I shook my head

  
  


"R-rafe? But, h-how?" it had seemed so clear when I saw his name signed on the letter, but now, seeing him standing here, fully clad in his army uniform, hugging my sister, talking to her, it was like seeing a ghost

  
  


Rafe looked up over Leanna's head and at me, our eyes met and I felt my legs turn to jelly, I looked around frantically for anything to hold onto, grasping a bench and holding myself up with it

  
  


"I sent you a letter, Danny, I guess the mail took longer than I did" he almost half-chuckled

  
  


"I-I got it, just now, I got it and then I came to tell Beautiful, but it looks like you found her first" I said, softening as it ended

  
  


Rafe looked down at the much smaller girl clinging to him, her body heaving with sobs, and then up at his best friend

  
  


"How about if we go home, I'm sure Rafe's tired, and we need to talk" I suggested, Leanna sniffed and leaned off of Rafe's chest, nodding and backing up 

  
  


We let Leanna get a few feet in front of us before we started conversing quietly

  
  


"Have you seen Evelyn yet?" I asked

  
  


"No, I had to see you guys first" Rafe said

  
  


Silence

  
  


"Um, Danny, what's wrong with Beautiful?" Rafe asked

  
  


"What do you mean?" I asked, playing dumb, not wanting to have to say the truth again

  
  


"She seems like she's gained some weight, I guess me being gone didn't affect her to badly, huh?" he said, chuckling uncomfortably

  
  


"No, Rafe, she's pregnant" I said as calmly as possible, it hit Rafe like a ton of bricks, I knew, because he stopped walking and I got a few steps in front of him

  
  


"Are you serious? I thought she didn't...didn't...anymore" he said, thinking hard

  
  


"Well, it's true, 4 months" I sighed

  
  


"Oh my god" he trailed off

  
  


"C'mon, we'd better go, there's a lot for you to tell us" I said, looking to my best friend and smiling 

  
  


"I"m glad you're back, Rafe, we really needed you here, we were lost without you" I said, clapping my hand on his back then quickening our pace to catch up with Leanna...

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


A/N: And there we go, another chapter, another...day...or something...ok, pleaseeeeeee review! I'll love you forever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever if you do! 

  
  
  
  


Preview for Next Chapter: December 7th, 1941


	10. Family

This is very short, and sorry, but I lied, NEXT chapter will be the actual attack, but I got a review and that made me so happy that I had to post this! Also, my muse was sparked, so, yay! 

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


Chapter X-Family

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


*-*Much Later*-*

  
  


Leanna and I had left Rafe and Evelyn to themselves for the night, they had gone on a rather long walk, and returned only to find me sitting on the couch with a sleeping Leanna huddled against my shoulder, Evelyn looked at the sight from behind the couch and smiled, turning to Rafe and giving him a lingering kiss before waving to him and whispering something about 'spending time with them' and 'I love you', Rafe tiptoed around the couch and I raised my eyes from the sleeping Leanna to meet with his, he smiled

  
  


"She's just as beautiful as she always has been" he said, leaning down to get a look at her closed eyes

  
  


"Yeah," I sighed, "Did you and Evelyn have fun?"

  
  


Rafe gave a mischievous smile that told me not to ask and took a seat on the couch next to Leanna's feet

  
  


"It's been rough for her, hasn't it?" he asked after a few moments of silence

  
  


I nodded, "Harder than you know"

  
  


An eerie silence settled across the room, an uncomfortable silence where the whole earth seemed to stand still, nothing could be heard but the ocean lapping against the rocks outside and the deep breaths of Leanna, after a long moment that I thought would never end, Rafe spoke

  
  


"I'm sorry"

  
  


Those were defiantly not the words I was expecting to hear, seeing my confusion, he opened his mouth once more

  
  


"I shouldn't have gone, Beautiful needed us both, and I knew you wouldn't be able to handle her alone, and plus, if it weren't for me, she would have never went back to that"

  
  


I looked at Rafe, shaking my head sadly and sighing

  
  


"Rafe, it wasn't your fault, you didn't know, and you certainly didn't mean to get shot down" I said

  
  


"I know, I told Evelyn that she was what kept me alive, knowing I could come home to her, and sure, I thought about her, but Beautiful kept me alive, really, I knew she'd never be able to survive without us"

  
  


"I missed you to, you know" I smiled

  
  


"I know, I missed you too" he smiled back

  
  


I've always felt close to Rafe McCawley, we grew up just over the hill from each other, and when my dad got hauled off, he gave me a home, he was the only family I'd ever really had (other than Leanna), my brother, because family isn't defined by blood, and we were family, me, Rafe, and Leanna, we were all that was left, straight out of Portland Tennessee, and if moments like these, where we could sit in silence yet know exactly what the other wanted to say, weren't proof enough, what he had just revealed was, strangers didn't miss you-but family did

  
  


Family always did.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


A/N: Random chapter just kinda thrown in there because I was forced to by Grace (that's my muse, hehe), the last line (about how stranger's didn't miss you to the end, as well as the 'family isn't defined by blood' I'm not sure if that's hers, but that's where I got the idea) is totally adapted (the actual phrase was 'strangers didn't worry-family did. Family always did.') from my favorite fic EVER, it's a Harry Potter fic called Death Before Dishonor (::'shameless plug' flashes across screen::) and I've got permission and everything from Robin to use it, and there will be another adaption of another phrase from the same fic in one of the oncoming chapters! Of course, converting HP to PH (haha, isn't that cool?) means that the hilarity of the phrase has to be lost, but, oh well, it's a tribute to the best fic ever! Anyway, REVIEW! I LOVE THOSE WHO REVIEW!


	11. Chaos

Hooray! I finally reached 20 reviews! Sorry it took so long folks, the website wouldn't let me upload it, hope you're not terribly disappointed, I'd like to thank ALL of my reviewers, whom I love very much, especially Kekelina, who, I've realized, likes my other two obsessions too, Harry Potter and ER, which is cool…so, with that out of the way, on with it!

Chapter XI—Chaos 

*-*Next Night*-*  
  
  
Rafe, Red, Anthony, Gooz, Leanna, and I (plus others whom I did not know) sat in the Hula Hut, the bar we frequented, of course, we were drunk, all but Leanna, whom I wouldn't let touch a drop of alcohol, Rafe was telling us incredible stories about his time in England, and we were listening in awe, he was a hero. Our stories brought us deep into the night, and early morning, and we just kept taking more shots, more stories, shots and stories  
  
Then Anthony threw up.  
  
That was when we decided that we'd have enough, and we all needed to sleep off a few to many drinks  
  
I was the least drunk, and that's where Rafe and Leanna got the idea that I should drive, so we drove, there was no one on the roads at this hour, 3 in the morning, that was early  
  
"Hey Rafe, it's 3" I said nonchalantly  
  
"Are you serious?" came the reply from the passenger  
  
"Haha, Evelyn will not be happy" Leanna chimed in  
  
"She's right, let's just go somewhere, to the beach, we can sleep there" Rafe suggested rather than face the wrath of 'psycho-girlfriend', as Leanna called her  
  
I shrugged, "Whatever you say, boss" and turned onto the road leading to their favorite spot  
  
Once there, Rafe jumped into the back and I stretched out in the front, and we chatted blankly for a few moments, Leanna was the first to drift off to sleep, that's when Rafe and I stopped talking, not wanting to wake the obviously tired girl, so soon we, too, drifted off to sleep  
  
  
  
And that's where morning found us.  
  
I sprawled in the front seat, one arm shielding my face from the rising sun, Rafe laying in the back, one arm draped down the seat and into the floorboard, and Leanna curled up beside him, her feet next to his face and her head and hands placed daintily upon Rafe's chest and stomach  
  
We would have lay there in an alcohol-induced state of sleep for much longer had it not been for the planes.  
  
I could hear them flying overhead, but thought nothing of it until I became aware of the rough upholstery of the car seat beneath me, and suddenly realized that I had spent the night in the car last night, *_Go back to sleep!_* My mind screamed, my body ached, especially my head, and I was fighting the urge to drift back into the comforting blackness without even opening my eyes when I heard Rafe groan and mutter some incoherent curses  
  
*_Good, at least I don't have to suffer alone_*, I thought  
  
"Why the hell's the Navy gotta practice this early on a Sunday?" Rafe sighed, and even though I couldn't see him, I knew that he had delicately repositioned himself so not to wake Leanna  
  
For some reason I got the strong urge to open my eyes even though every bone, muscle, nerve, and cell in my body told me to just lay there and go to sleep, but for some reason, I just had to look  
  
I'm not sure exactly what happened in the moments after I forced my eyes open against the blinding light, but it was utter confusion.  
  
Whether I saw the ominous red dot on the planes that was a tell-tale sign that those were *_not_* Navy planes, or heard the bombs dropping on the nearby Harbor first, or if they happened simultaneously, I'm not certain, all I know is that my eyes shot open and any thought of the pain in my body or sleep were both forgotten  
  
"Them ain't Navy planes!" I wish that I had been able to say something else, something to the effect of 'the Japs are blowing up our fucking harbor' would have been nice, but I just opened my mouth and the words fell out  
  
Chaos ensued. Immediately I became aware of Rafe sitting up and saying something to the effect of "Oh my god..." but his voice would allow no more, his eyes, like mine, were glued to the ochre smoke rising from the general direction of the harbor and the multitude of clearly Japanese planes  
  
Then I heard Leanna hit the seat with a light thump, I was sure that she had hit long before that, but it only registered in my ears now, as she groggily sat up, unaware of what was going on, it didn't take long for her to figure it out, though, the three of us sat there, frozen in place, not being able to move and even if we could, what were we supposed to do?  
  
"Holy shit." it was Leanna who found her voice first, I'm sure she had meant to yell the curse, but it came out as only a whisper  
  
That was what sprang us into action, in a matter of seconds, Rafe was in the front seat with me and I was fumbling for the keys, wondering if the incessant thumping was my heart or Leanna's, who was so close to me she I could feel her breath on the back of my ear  
  
Finally, I found the key and it was in the ignition, though I didn't remember putting it there, it was like everything was moving in slow motion until...  
  
"Go, Danny, Go!" it was Rafe's voice that snapped me out of it, I threw it into reverse and slammed on the gas, with a squeal of tires, we were off  
  
"Beautiful, you ok?" I asked over my shoulder, Leanna had been thrown backwards in the takeoff  
  
I couldn't wait for an answer, throwing it into drive, the car peeled out down the road  
  
"Danny, get me to a plane" Rafe said, his voice was panicky yet calm, if that's possible  
  
I nodded, but that was all, I needed to concentrate on the road and where I was going  
  
The sound of bombs dropping and bullets flying through the air was so loud you could barely hear yourself talk, Leanna sat in the back seat, not sure if she was going to cry or blow up from anger, she was faintly conscious of Rafe and I in the front arguing in confusion until we reached what she knew as the air field, she found the thought humorous, that someone as smart as her brothers would think that the Japs weren't going to blow this place up in a matter of seconds, but we had to have a plan  
  
We always had a plan, and Leanna took comfort in that  
  


A/N:  Eh…that last paragraph sounds weird, I wrote in 3rd person instead of first, then changed it, then it sounded bad, but…yeah…ah, greenfairie brought up something, I didn't know it actually said they were from Shelby, sorry, and being the Tennessean I am, I sent props out to my own town, Portland, sorry 'bout that, anyway, PLEASE PLEASE please? REVIEW! JJ

Preview for Chapter 12:  The attack continues, and the shit really hits the fan…


	12. The Plan

Ok, this is chapter 12, attack part 2, so...let's go...

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


Chapter XII-The Plan

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


The car rolled onto the runway, Rafe was out of the car before it had even stopped, and I was not far behind, only stopping to help Leanna, grabbing her by the wrist and leading her towards the office, where we met the confused pilots, Red, Anthony, Joe, and others, running in circles, or so it seemed

  
  


I payed no mind to them, running inside and grabbing the phone, calling the airfield for Earl, I'm not sure what was said, only that I told him to get the planes ready, we were under attack, and hung up, then saw Rafe, wide eyed, walking towards me from the window

  
  


"Take cover" he said, the calm in his voice made me shudder

  
  


And I couldn't move

  
  


"I said TAKE COVER!" he yelled this time, all calm escaping from his voice, pushing me down behind the desk, almost on top of Leanna

  
  


Just then, a large blast blew the wall in, I was scared to death, but I wouldn't show any of this fear from our close call to Rafe or especially Leanna

  
  


Rafe waited, not one of those absent, pointless waits, but he was definitely waiting for something, a few moments later, he got up and gestured for me to do the same, I grabbed Leanna by the wrist and we made our way quickly to the car

  
  


"Where are we going?" Rafe asked

  
  


"To the little airfield about 10 miles from here" I informed him, the glint in his eye told me he knew what he was doing

  
  


He quickened his pace, "Let's GO, LOAD UP!" Rafe yelled to the other pilots over the roar, looking up at the planes approaching

  
  


"They're about to bust this hanger wide open!" I yelled

  
  


"LET'S MOVE!" Rafe yelled and the other four pilots piled into the small car and we were off

  
  


Bullets flew through the air all around the car, the Zeros were on our tail, and we were going as fast as we could, with the bullet holes all through the car it was a miracle that none of us had been hit

  
  


There was suddenly no more time as we were suddenly just...there, and we had bounded out of the car and I was already talking to Earl, Rafe behind me  
  
"What do you have?" I asked, he knew what I was talking about  
  
"Six, she's broke, she's shit, she needs fuel, she needs ammo, and the other two are good" he said quickly gesturing to them when suddenly a bomb dropped and there was no more hanger to the left of me, only a ball of orange  
  
From the look on Earl's face, I knew those were the two 'good' ones.  
  
"Let's go lay out some cover fire" Rafe suggested from behind, I nodded and motioned to the men to get behind the bunkers, they all complied, and we made sure that Leanna was squished down close, right next to mine and Rafe's knees  
  
"Alright, pilots, don't get on the stick until you get to the end, fly low, remember, we can't out fly the Zeros, we'll just have to outsmart them, everyone else, I need ammo in that tower, Red, you come with me, ok, let's move!" Rafe said quickly  
  
Anthony, Gooz, and Joe were the first to pop out from behind the bunker, they ran across the runway, dodging bullets as they ran, Rafe allowed them to get about five seconds ahead of us and then he grabbed Leanna's wrist, looking her in the eye  
  
"You're gonna be fine" he said, almost like she'd asked him or said anything  
  
But she hadn't.  
  
  
  
Rafe shot me a glance and then we, along with Red, jumped up and ran, I wasn't sure if I'd ever run that fast in my life, and I was blankly aware that my thighs and calves were hurting, but I didn't care, Leanna needed to be safe, that's all that mattered, not Rafe, not myself, but Leanna. Leanna and her baby.   
  
And so I ran. Ran for my life, Leanna's wrist in my hand, running for the hanger. That's where I needed to be, that was my focus.  


Obviously my focus needed to be more on Leanna, because she stumbled and fell, I looked back, panicked, what was wrong? Had she been shot?

  
  


"Beautiful?" I said, but without waiting for a response, I simply lifted her into my arms and continued running

  


We got there, and we were alive, and I stood around, almost in a panic, looking for Rafe who was bringing up the rear, then set Leanna to her feet

  


"Beautiful, you ok?" I asked, raising her chin and examining her face  
  
"I'm fine, Danny" she said, moving my hand  
  
"Good, Rafe, let's go" I said, looking to Rafe  


"Let's" he said, throwing a glance at Leanna  
  
"Be careful, Beautiful" Rafe yelled, pointing at her in a very 'you do as I say' way, Joe's plane was starting up  
  
Rafe and I climbed into our cockpits, the planes were side by side, and I was still looking at Leanna, who looked confused  
  
"Where's my plane?" she yelled  
  
"What plane?" I asked back  
  
"*My* plane, I'm flying too" she said  
  
Rafe heard this too, because when I looked over at him, he was still looking at Leanna  
  
"Beautiful, you can't fly, you're pregnant!" I screamed over the roar of the propeller  
  
"Red! Beautiful *can't* fly, take her with you, she's not going to like it, just do it" I heard Rafe yell   


Red nodded

  
  


"I'm going with you!" she yelled, pushing Red off as he reached for her wrist

  
  


"No you're not, go with Red, y'all get out of here, go on, get!" I said in a very final tone

  
  


"Dammit Danny, I CAN FLY! You're going to be all the help you can get!" she said

  
  


"It's to dangerous! GO WITH RED NOW!" I yelled back at her, she seemed to sink in on herself and she looked hurt, but if that's what it took, so be it

  
  


It wasn't a matter of whether Leanna could fly or not, Leanna could fly with the best of them, and in the good times at Pearl, I had taught her to fly these planes, I knew Leanna could fly, but this was *real*, not just chicken in the cropdusters, and she was pregnant, her life wasn't just hers, it was being shared by someone else, my niece or nephew, and I wasn't about to risk it

  


There was so much commotion that no one looked up until we realized that Earl was yelling into the radio, my gaze focused on the runway first and I saw a ball of fire that I knew had once been Joe's plane  
  
I took a deep breath and looked down at Leanna, no words needed to be spoken, she backed behind Red and gave me a reassuring smile, then looked to Rafe, that's when I realized that Rafe had been trying to get my attention, I obviously had a horrified and far-out look in my eye  
  
"Danny, I need you, I'm nothing without a wing man" he yelled  
  
I gulped, nodding and looking down at the belly of my sister, praying that she would be ok, taking a deep breath, and with a glance at Rafe, we took off  
  
Rafe yelling instructions to me the whole time, but the only thing on my mind was Leanna, I could fly, I knew it, but Leanna, would she be ok?   
  
I would have kept thinking along these lines had it not been for the bullets that began flying by my plane at that moment  
  
"God!" I screamed before I realized it  
  
"We've just gotta out fly them, you'll be fine" Rafe reassured me  
  
It seemed to take an eternity, the whole flying thing, as we picked them off one by one, separating them, shooting them down, flying them by the tower while the others shot them down, it seemed everything was going according to plan until out of nowhere six Zeros flew in, raining bullets on us, I tried to dodge them, but I was running out of both fuel and ammo, and fatigue was beginning to take its toll on my skills   
  
"How about if we show these Jap suckers how to play chicken?" Rafe suddenly said, I looked up and made out his plane coming around the corner,   
  
"I'm with ya Rafe"   
  
"Ok, don't break til I say"  
  
I took a deep breath and tried to focus, I needed my mind to be clear and focused for this to work,   
  
"Not yet"   
  
Our planes were getting closer,   
  
"Get ready"   
  
Only a couple hundred yards away and closing   
  
"Wait for it, wait for it"  
  
5 yards  
  
"LEFT, Danny, NOW!"  
  
With all my strength I pulled the stick to the side and our planes passed belly-to-belly, there was nothing like that kind of a rush, I didn't turn around to see, but I could hear the planes crashing into each other behind me,   
  
"That was great!", Rafe's voice sounded triumphant, he must not have realized that there were still two left, I looked down, I could only last about five more minutes on fuel, and my ammo was out  
  
"Rafe, I'm out of fuel and ammo" I said, trying not to sound as dim as I knew I did, I knew that Rafe was looking down at the gauges in surprise at this point  
  
"Me either, and there's two left, what do we do?" he asked, I hated it when he asked me questions, HE was the war hero and all  
  
"I don't know, we could try to fly them by the tower" I suggested  
  
"Not enough fuel, if we try to land, they'll be all over us"  
  
I heaved a sigh, after shooting down at least four Japanese Zeros, it was going to end, I kept searching for words to say, a plan, words of advice, anything, but nothing would come, the bullets were whizzing by my head now and I wasn't exactly sure how they kept missing me, I was preparing myself for the end, Rafe and I flying side by side  
  
Then, suddenly, I heard a loud crash and a wave of light flooded everything, and then it was gone, maybe I had died, that was my first thought, that I had been shot and I was dead, it took me a moment to realize that the both Zeros were now smoldering piles of orange flames on the ground, only them did I turn to see who or what my savior was, before I could even glance back, a voice came over the radio  
  
  
"Looked like you two needed some help"  


  
  
  
  
  
  


A/N: Think I could have made it a little bit longer? Haha, um, yeah, ::shrug:: I enjoy reviews, they make me post chapters faster, and, yeah, everyone wants to know what happens, right?

  
  


Preview for Chapter 13: the aftermath and the horror that comes with it


	13. On The Ground

Yay! I got reviews! So...yeah, thanks! They made me so excited! Mmkay, anyway, read this on

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


~*~

Then, suddenly, I heard a loud crash and a wave of light flooded everything, and then it was gone, maybe I had died, that was my first thought, that I had been shot and I was dead, it took me a moment to realize that the both Zeros were now smoldering piles of orange flames on the ground, only them did I turn to see who or what my savior was, before I could even glance back, a voice came over the radio  
  
  
"Looked like you two needed some help"  
~*~

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


Chapter XIII-On The Ground

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


"Beautiful!"

  
  
  
  
  
  
  


I don't know whether it was me or Rafe or both who called her name, but I looked over into the cockpit of the plane that had come in between us and there she was, the petite and pregnant girl with disheveled brown curls and eyes like fire, she was like an angel, I felt like screaming at her about how dangerous it was to be up here, she was, after all, pregnant, and how I had told her to stay on the ground, but after a display like that, I couldn't bring myself to chide her  
  
"How about if we land, me and Danny are running on fumes" Rafe said  
  
"Me too, Earl said this one was low on fuel, and he was right" Leanna said  
  
I followed the two as we landed side by side, and triumphantly stumbled out of our cockpits to face Earl and the rest of the people standing there  
  
"Who taught you to fly like that, Walker?" he was directing the question at Leanna, not me,  
  
"They did" she said, looking at Rafe and me before climbing out onto the wing, where Rafe and I rushed to help her down, as we walked back down the runway both Rafe and I had our arms around the much shorter and much plumper brunette, I looked over and kissed her temple  
  
"Next time I say 'it's to dangerous, stay here' listen to me please?" I said, holding her tighter  
  
"and next time I say 'Danny, I'll be fine' let me go, because I have to be there to save your asses" she smiled  
  
"We should probably go help at the Harbor" Rafe said  
  
"I've got more fuel in these three, you want them?" Earl asked  
  
I nodded  
  
"Let's go, fly close to me, Beautiful, do your stuff"  
  
So the fates of the people of Pearl Harbor were in the hands of three pilots; one pregnant ex-pilot-turned-nurse, one dead guy, and one completely hungover. Wonderful.**

  
  


The dogfight at the Harbor had been nothing ut triumphant on our parts. Leanna flew beautifully, just like I taught her, and we drove those Japs out of our Harbor, but the damage had been done, and after we had landed back at the airfield, we had no idea what to do, and in the end it was Leanna who had a plan

  
  


"The hospital" she said simply, and Rafe lit up, had the situation not been so grave, I would have laughed at how he had forgotten his girlfriend momentarily

  
  


"To the hospital it is" I said, the car was in no shape to be driven, so we walked, it was only about 3 blocks, but it was 3 blocks of pure devastation

  
  


Finally we walked in, and *that* was chaos, people were running everywhere, the screams of pain echoed and I was sure that this was what hell was like, we stood there, greasy, burned, torn, and bloody, I on the far right, Rafe on the left, and Leanna in the middle, bathed in sunlight from the door behind us and I was sure we looked more heroic than we were 

  
  


Rafe began looking frantically for Evelyn, and after a moment or two of standing there, a frazzled Evelyn appeared, she was pulling two IV stands behind her, she must have spotted us, because her intense gaze instantly softened, and after a moment of standing there looking at each other, she began towards us at what was probably supposed to be a run, but in her wearied state, it was, at best, a slow gallop

  
  


She stopped a few feet in front of us and sighed, rushing forward again, I assumed to fuss over Rafe, but I was wrong, I looked directly to my left and saw Evelyn gasp

  
  


"Oh my god! Leanna, are you alright?!" she asked, obviously *worried* about Leanna

  
  


I knew my mouth was hanging open in shock because I could no longer smell the stench of burned flesh in the air through my nose, Leanna and Evelyn *hated* each other, but here Evelyn was, making sure that Leanna was ok before she had even looked at Rafe

  
  


"I'm fine, Evelyn" Leanna assured her

  
  


"I want to bandage those cuts, could you get me- no, I'll get it in a moment"she said, then turned to Rafe, threw her arms around his neck and just stood there

  
  


"I was so worried, I thought you were dead again" she said, not seeming to mind that she was laying her head in a spot of dried blood on his shoulder

  
  


"I know, sweetheart, I'm ok" he said, Evelyn seemed to regain her composure and stepped back

  
  


"What happened to you?" she asked, again looking to Leanna

  
  


"Uh-" Leanna opened her mouth

  
  


"She flew, with us, and she was great" Rafe said, knowing that there was going to be a stern talking to coming to him later

  
  


"Leanna, you're *pregnant*!" she panted

  
  


"I know, Evelyn, I did what I had to do" was Leanna's retort

  
  


"She saved our lives" I spoke up

  
  


It was Evelyn's turn to have her jaw drop

  
  


Rafe smiled and put an arm around Leanna

  
  


"Let's get you guys cleaned up, Leanna, are you ok?" she asked

  
  


Leanna nodded

  
  


"Ok, I want to get you guys cleaned up, and the-" Evelyn was cut off

  
  


"We want to help" Rafe spoke up

  
  


Evelyn sighed and mentally shook herself, trying to clear their thoughts

  
  


"Blood. We need blood" she said

  
  


"You two aren't seriously injured? Are you?"she asked, looking Rafe and me up and down

  
  


Both of us shook their heads, I had a nasty cut on my arm and one on my shin, and I would be very sore tomorrow, Rafe had a gaping wound on his thumb and one above his left eye that had bled all the way down to his shirt, and Leanna had a large cut just at her scalp, staining her brown curls a deep crimson

  
  


Evelyn nodded

  
  


"Leanna, can you go and get me some gauze, peroxide, and some tape so I can fix their cuts...and your head?" Evelyn said

  
  


Leanna didn't answer, she just walked off in the other direction

  
  


"C'mon, let's get you two taken care of" Evelyn said, touching Rafe's arm, avoiding his bleeding thumb

  
  


We followed her into a small room in the back, behind a glass window was a man, obviously being given his last rights

  
  


I tried not to look, but with the needles stuck into my arm and blood pouring into the sterilized coke bottles, I would've done anything not to look at my own arms

  
  


Leanna walked in, many supplies under her arm, her face looked pale, and Evelyn knew why, the horror that was taking place inside the hospital was overwhelming, the room they were in was quiet, except for the chanting of the priest behind the glass, and the gurgling of the dying man

  
  


Leanna set to work on Rafe's thumb, not saying a word, she poured alcohol into the wound, Rafe jumped

  
  


"Ouch" he pouted

  
  


Leanna looked up and faked a smile, "Sorry" she said softly

  
  


She quickly finished fixing Rafe and moved to me, she was very gentle as not to hurt me, and when she was done looked up and smiled at me

  
  


"Ok, you two are done" Evelyn said, taking the needle from Rafe's arm and gesturing for Leanna to do the same to me, she gently took the needle from my arm, deathly pale and looking like she was about ready to fall into my arms, but she stayed on her feet

  
  


A man suddenly rushed in, "They need anyone who can move down at the harbor, they've got men trapped in sinking ships down there" he said, then ducked out

  
  


Rafe and I stood at the same time, Rafe hugged Evelyn, and I squeezed Leanna gently so I didn't hurt her, because I knew, despite what she had said, she wasn't ok, it was understandable, she had shot down 4 Jap Zeros, and lived to tell, finally I smiled and kissed her head

  
  


She looked up at me, her eyes glistening like emeralds in her eye sockets

  
  


"Please be careful, Danny" her eyes plead

  
  


I nodded, "I will, Beautiful" 

  
  


Rafe passed by next, she reached out and caught his arm as I exited

  
  


"Rafe" she sighed, "You be careful...and take care of Danny for me?" Rafe ruffled Leanna's hair, smiling gently

  
  


"Don't I always?" he grinned, causing Leanna to smile just slightly

  
  


"Yeah, I guess" she hit his shoulder playfully as he walked away, watching them both disappear out the front door, then turning to Evelyn

  
  


"What do I do?" she sighed, pushing thoughts of us to the back of her head and only looking forward at the task that lay before her... 

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


A/N: Ok, there we go! I like reviews, and things of the sort, and I NEED YOUR HELP!!!! I need to know if I should go through everything like it did in the movie, if I should go through it scene by scene, PLEASE HELP!! ...AND REVIEW :p ok, now that that's over, I'll be posting the new chapter...sometime when I get reviews...

  
  


**References:

(I tried to put this in my authors note, but it was entirely to long)

"So the fates of the people of Pearl Harbor were in the hands of three pilots; one pregnant ex-pilot-turned-nurse, one dead guy, and one completely hungover. Wonderful." is a reference (or a remake) of the line "So the people of Hogsmeade were left with an old woman, a werewolf, an ex-convict, and a former Death Eater. *How colorful*" from a very good HP fic called Death Before Dishonor (and if you ask me, my rendition of it took all the fun out of it) and Robin gave me permission and...yeah, that's all


	14. Aftermath

Mmmkay, here's another chapter, have fun...

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


Chapter XIV-Aftermath

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


It had taken several days to sort out the bodies, the dead from the alive, and they had all been placed in caskets in a large hanger, and today there was a massive memorial service for all of those who had lost their lives on that fateful day, and that's where we were, Leanna, Rafe, Evelyn, and I, standing behind Red who was sobbing by the casket of his fiancee, Betty, who had perished in the line of duty like so many others

  
  


I was standing in the middle this time, Leanna to my right and Rafe to my left, Evelyn's hand entwined with his, I looked to Leanna, who looked like she was about to pass out, her face was white as a sheet, she had been sick ever since the attack, and now she was looking sadly at the sobbing redhead kneeling beside the casket

  
  


I heard her sigh, and then she turned to me

  
  


"Danny, I gotta get out of here" she whispered, then quickly circled around the back of us and hastened toward the open end of the hanger, grabbing Rafe's attention, who looked at me, and I motioned for him to go with her

  
  


"We'll be right back, babe" Rafe whispered in Evelyn's ear, who gave him a recognizing look and kissed his cheek

  
  


Rafe and I followed Leanna's path, only about 10 steps behind her, only pausing for Rafe to look back to Evelyn, who was now knelt beside Red, patting his back gently

  
  


Soon we had reached the outside, the sun was hidden behind the dim clouds and cast a kind of eerie aura over the Harbor, it reminded me of something I'd memorized in school

  
  


*A glooming peace this morning with it brings

The sun for sorrow would not show its head*

  
  


I had no more time to think on it, because Rafe and I spotted Leanna at the same time, pacing in circles with her head resting in her thumb and forefinger and breathing heavily

  
  


"Beautiful?" I asked, approaching her slowly

  
  


She looked up, startled, "Sorry, I couldn't take it in there" she sighed

  
  


"It's ok" Rafe said

  
  


"I don't know what's wrong with me, I guess it's just lack of sleep or something" she said

  
  


I opened my mouth to protest but was cut off by a man in uniform carrying some yellow papers saluting us

  
  


"Lieutenant McCawley, Lieutenants Walker" he said in greeting

  
  


Rafe and I turned quickly and saluted, Leanna was a bit slower, she wasn't used to having men coming up to her and addressing her with her rank

  
  


"Doolittle wants to see you," he said, eyeing Leanna, "All of you"

  
  


Rafe nodded and took the papers from his hand, orders he recognized them as, and handed two to Leanna and me

  
  


The man saluted, and as did we, and he left, leaving us to ponder the papers in our hands

  
  


"I wonder what this is about" Rafe sighed

  
  


"I don't know, but we'd better get going, c'mon Beautiful" I said, taking Leanna's arm gently and leading her in the opposite direction, Rafe coming along beside me

  
  


As we walked along, we exchanged worried glances, glances that contained worry for both Leanna's declining health and worry for whatever Doolittle wanted from us...all three of us...

  
  
  
  


We stopped outside Doolittle's office and took a collective breath, I looked to Leanna, who was looking sicker than ever, then flashed a glance over Leanna's head and at Rafe

  
  
  
  


Rafe looked worried, but with a nod of reassurance, we walked into Doolittle's office, saluting quickly then blurting the first thing that came into our minds...at the same time

  
  


"We can explain" 

  
  


"Explain what?" Doolittle asked, startled to say the least at them barging in suddenly

  
  


"Whatever it was you heard about us, sir" Rafe said quickly

  
  


"What? About the hula shirts you were flying in, or the 8 Zeros you shot down?" he asked

  
  


I wanted to say something, but no words came to my head, and from the looks Leanna and Rafe's face, they were at a loss for words too

  
  


"We're very proud of you, all three of you will be awarded the Silver Star, and you're being promoted to Captain," he paused, "And you, Walker, will be getting your wings"

  
  


Leanna forced a smile, I wasn't sure if it was because she had dreamed of getting her wings her whole life, or if she was just relieved that they hadn't put her in jail for flying without her wings

  
  


"That's not what you wanted to see us for though, is it?" Rafe always was the one to speak to soon

  
  


"Do you know what top secret means?" Doolittle asked

  
  


"Yeah, it's the kind where you win medals, but they send them home to their relatives" Rafe answered, glancing to me and Leanna

  
  


"I am asking you to go on a mission, I needed the best pilots, and I want all three of you, you'll go without knowing where you're going, or what you're doing, or when you'll be back, what I can assure you, is that if you succeed, you'll come back heros" Doolittle said

  
  


Rafe looked around, from me, to Leanna, to Doolittle and back again, I knew he was looking for me to say something, but at the present moment I didn't think I could speak without squeaking

  
  


So we stood there for the next few seconds, both eager to be heros, but not very willing to leave Leanna, and waiting for the other to speak, to answer, stammer anything, it didn't matter, the silence was to much, but we didn't have to wait, because at that moment someone else spoke-

  
  


"I'm in"

  
  


Leanna. I had almost forgotten she was included too.

  
  


"No you aren't" I said quickly, her words giving me the ability to speak

  
  


"Danny" she said, that was all, she knew she was fighting a losing battle

  
  


"No, Beautiful, you're pregnant, do you know how dangerous it was for you to fly then, think about what it will be like in a few months, you're not going" I said

  
  


Leanna looked from me to Rafe with half pleading eyes

  
  


"I'm gonna have to agree with Danny on that one" he said, shaking his head

  
  


"Sorry, I didn't know you were...uh..." Doolittle faltered, which would have been particularly amusing in any situation but this, Doolittle never got tongue-tied

  
  


"It's ok" Leanna said quietly

  
  


"But I'm in" Rafe said so the conversation didn't have to carry any further

  
  


"I guess that means I am too" I said

  
  


"Good, we fly out in the morning, spend tonight with your family" Doolittle said

  
  


I instinctively looked at Leanna and had the faint urge to say 'They're my only family', but I just stood there, noticing the panicked look in Leanna's eyes

  
  


"You can't go" she whispered

  
  


"He needs us, Beautiful" I said

  
  


"Please, Rafe," she said, turning to Rafe, "I can't bear the thought of losing you again, please don't go, I need you, what am I supposed to do?"

  
  


I saw Rafe gulp, we knew exactly what had to be done, we had to go, it wasn't a choice, we were obviously essential to the mission, I could see it in the look in Doolittle's eyes

  
  


"I have to go, Beautiful" I heard Rafe say, it sounded painful to form those words with his mouth

  
  


She blinked, once...twice...I realized she was blinking to keep from crying

  
  


"We'll be there" Rafe said quickly

  
  


"Go" Doolittle smiled

  
  


I turned around unceremoniously along with Leanna, and Rafe, who was following her, and we walked out the door

  
  


"No, please, Danny, what if you're not back, I want you to stay, please!" Leanna tried to keep her voice quiet, but she sounded desperate

  
  


"Beautiful, we're going to be careful, and we'll be back in plenty of time, and you'll be fine" I said, trying to pull her into a hug but she pushed me off

  
  


She was mad, again, she would be over it in an hour or so, though, as soon as she realized that this wasn't going to change our minds, this was real, we had to go, it was an honor to even be asked, we were the best, and Leanna was fine, she would be fine until we got back

  
  


"I just wish you two would stop trying to be heros" she said, her voice cold and dark

  
  


I opened my mouth to retaliate, but I didn't have the chance, because at that precise moment, Leanna's knees seemed to buckle under her, and she when down heavily with an 'oof'

  
  


"Oh my god-Beautiful!" Rafe yelled, dropping to his knees beside her, but I was already there

  
  


"Beautiful? Leanna! Wake up!" I cried, shaking her

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


But it was no use, she was out cold

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


Alrighty there, more to come soon, I'm leaving tomorrow for a few days, so it'll be slow going, and oh yeah, that one part in there was from Romeo & Juliet, 'A glooming peace this morning with it brings/The sun for sorrow will not show its head/Go hence, to have more talk of these sad things/Some shall be pardoned and some punished/For never was a story of more woe/Than this of Juliet and her Romeo.' I think I got it right, anyway, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE REVIEW!!!! I love those who review, and they will get...something...good...yeah, so review!!

  
  


Preview for Chapter 15: What happened to Leanna and how it affects Danny, Rafe, and the whole crew...

  
  
  
  



	15. The Hardest Goodbye

Newwww chapter! Thanks for the reviews! I love you all!  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


*"Beautiful? Leanna! Wake up!" I cried, shaking her  
  


But it was no use, she was out cold*  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


Chapter XV-The Hardest Goodbye  
  
  
  


  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


I was still shaking her while Rafe checked her pulse  
  


"She's got a pulse" he reported  
  


I looked around in alarm, searching my head for what to do next  
  


"Let's get her to the hospital, Evelyn'll know what to do" I said  
  


"Alright, I'll carry her" Rafe said, not waiting for my answer before picking her up like a baby, and we set off towards the hospital  
  


The walk to the hospital seemed like it took an eternity, I kept glancing over at Leanna's deathly pale face and then at Rafe, who would nod to assure me that she was still breathing  
  


Finally, with the hospital in view, I broke into a sprint, and ran up the stairs, praying that Evelyn would be there  
  


By the divine intervention of a higher power, Evelyn had just arrived at the hospital thinking maybe we had gone there looking for her  
  


"Evelyn!" I yelled, still standing in the door, panting for breath  
  


She looked up wide eyed, "Danny! What is it?!" she was worried it was Rafe, I knew it  
  


"L-Leanna she just, collapsed, I don't know..." I started, but Evelyn had already passed me and was approaching Rafe, who was still carrying the limp Leanna  
  


"Get her inside!" she said urgently while checking her pulse  
  


Rafe ran her inside, following Evelyn to an (amazingly) nearly empty ward  
  


"There" Evelyn pointed to a bed and grabbed a blood-pressure cuff and a stethoscope  
  


Evelyn feverishly worked on the small girl, she was severely pale and, for the first time, I noticed her frame looked very small, I watched Evelyn put the stethoscope on her chest and then on the stomach, to check the baby, and then replaced it around her neck with a sigh  
  


"I don't know," was all she could say, "She's just...out, nothing *seems* wrong, but she's not waking up"  
  


I leaned down close to her forehead and brushed a curl away, "Beautiful, please?" I whispered  
  


There was a sudden jerk beneath me that caused me to draw back just in time to see twinkling green eyes as her eyelids fluttered open  
  


"Beautiful?" Rafe fell in beside me to look at her  
  


"Mmm?" she mumbled  
  


It was the most wonderful sound on earth  
  


"Beautiful, you ok?" I asked  
  


"Will be soon as you get off of me" she said, forcing her pale lips to upturn in a smile  
  


I smiled back and touched her chin  
  


"You scared us there for a second" Rafe said  
  


"You? It wasn't exactly a walk in the park for me" she was straining to speak  
  


"Ok, she needs her rest, you two need to go" Evelyn said, fully knowing that they were not going to leave  
  


"Evelyn?" Leanna whispered  
  


"Yes?"  
  
  
  


"My baby?"  
  


Evelyn smiled, "I checked, it's fine"  
  


Leanna let a breath she didn't know she was holding, then her gaze turned worried again  
  


"Please don't make them leave" Leanna pleaded  
  


"Alright" Evelyn whispered before turning to Rafe and I  
  


"I need to know what happened to her" she said plainly  
  


"We were talking, arguing, and she just...fell" I said  
  


"Arguing? The Golden Trio? What about?" Evelyn asked, snickering at the name she had made up for the three  
  


"Danny and I are going on a mission, we leave in the morning" Rafe said quickly, any amusement in Evelyn's face was gone  
  


"You're what?" she said, her breath catching in her throat   
  


"We're leaving, in the morning" Rafe repeated  
  


"Rafe, you just got back!" she tried to keep her voice in check  
  


"We have to, this is war, we have to, it's our job" Rafe said  
  


"I know" Evelyn sighed, giving Rafe a look that said that this wasn't over yet, but for the sake of Leanna...it was through  
  


Evelyn sighed, "Stay with her, I know you'll just bug me until I let you"  
  


"Thanks" I whispered  
  


Rafe was still staring after Evelyn  
  


"Look, Rafe, I can stay with Beautiful, you need to talk to Evelyn" I offered, Rafe looked thoughtful  
  


"Ok" he said, stepping past me and kissing Leanna's forehead, "I'll be back later, Beautiful, ok?"  
  


Leanna nodded and Rafe walked away, leaving me sitting on the side of the bed in silence  
  


Leanna looked straight ahead, she looked deep in thought  
  


"Danny, are you scared to die?" she asked finally, looking up at me from the bed where she lay  
  


The question caught me off-guard and I thought for a moment, taking her tiny hand in mine, it was cold like ice, but still I held onto her  
  


I opened my mouth to speak, but no words would come out, all I could do was nod  
  


"Me too," she sighed, "Do you think it hurts? Or if it's just peace? Or does it depend on the person?"   
  


I smiled absently  
  


"I don't know, Beautiful, but you don't have to worry, you aren't going to be dying for a very long time" I said  
  


It was her turn to look uncomfortable, she cast her eyes down and pursed her lips, I shifted my weight in the chair and leaned over to kiss her forehead  
  


"Me and Rafe leave in the morning, I need to go pry him from the jaws of Evelyn, we'll come back tonight to say goodbye" I said, standing up and smiling down at my pregnant looking sister before turning and leaving the hospital  
  


As I stepped out into the day I looked around for a sign of Evelyn, seeing none, I walked down the four wooden steps and went to turn the corner towards my bunker, and ran straight into her, she backed away, startled but seemingly glad to see me  
  


"Sorry, Ev"I said, smiling at her  
  


She smiled back  
  


I opened my mouth to speak  
  


"Me and Rafe are leaving in the morning, and well, neither of us really wanna go, coz of Beautiful, but we have to, we're counting on you to take care of Leanna for us" I blurted  
  


Evelyn smiled and nodded, "I'll take the best of care of her, and you two don't have to worry about a thing, you'll be back in plenty of time for the birth"  
  


"Thanks, Ev, now get out of here, you and Rafe need to patch things up" I said smiling knowingly and walking toward the bunker, hearing a soft laugh from Evelyn behind me  
  


It was good to know that Evelyn had seemed to warm up to Leanna, became sort of a big sister to her, because I hated leaving my baby sister all alone in that strange hospital ward, but I needed my wits about me, so did Rafe, our very survival depended on it…  
  
  
  


*-*The Next Morning*-*  
  
  
  


Rafe and I woke up before the sun on the morning we were to leave, we had returned to the hospital after we had finished packing and set our affairs in order, that was around 10, and Leanna was already asleep, neither of us wanted to leave her, and so that's where we spent our night, I on one side, holding Leanna's hand and Rafe on the other, doing the same  
  


I woke first and looked at Rafe across from me, clutching Leanna's hand as if he'd never let it go, he was slumped over her stomach and her hand was gently on the nape of his neck  
  


I couldn't suppress the small chuckle that escaped my lips  
  


At this, Rafe stirred and lifted his head lazily, "Morning, huh?" he said  
  


"Yeah, in a couple hours we'll need to be gone" I said  
  


"Think we should wake her?" Rafe sighed  
  


I shook my head, "Just a few more minutes"  
  


Rafe took a deep breath, then exhaled for a long while  
  


Minutes passed as I played with my baby sister's hand in mine, I didn't want to leave her, she was so fragile, she needed us, but I had to, and small noise from Rafe reminded me of that  
  


"Beautiful?" I whispered  
  


She moved slightly and then settled back down into the pillow  
  


"Beautiful" I said, louder this time  
  


Her eyelids fluttered, and after a moment of contemplating it, she opened her eyes with a smile  
  


"Mornin' Danny, Rafe" she said, regarding each of us  
  


"Morning Beautiful" Rafe smiled to her  
  


"Shouldn't you guys be in the air?" she asked, shifting her position so she was sitting up  
  


"Nah, not for a few minutes, we wanted to say goodbye first" I said  
  


She smiled. It was a very genuine smile, not the kind that she forced to make us think she was ok  
  


"I'm going to miss you" Rafe spoke up  
  


Leanna looked like she almost laughed, "I'll miss you two more than you can know" she said  
  


That was what it took to throw us into an uncomfortable silence that would have lasted for long minutes  
  


But time wasn't something we had  
  


"Y'all be careful, please, don't try to be heros, just get back alive" Leanna said  
  


"We'll be careful, Beautiful" I said  
  


Another moment of silence while she just looked at us, and finally, with a sigh, I stood, Rafe following my lead  
  


"We'd better be off, Beautiful" I said solemnly  
  


"Yeah, I love you" Rafe said, bending down to hug her and kiss her cheek  
  


"You take care of my brother, hear?" she whispered and Rafe smiled   
  


"Don't I always" he whispered back and pulled away, walking towards the door and never looking back, I knew he couldn't  
  


"I love you, Beautiful, so much, don't forget that" I said, leaning down and hugging her before pulling away  
  


"I love you, too, Danny" she said, "Just come home, alright?"   
  


I nodded and kissed her forehead, leaning up to take one last look at her  
  


The look on her face was so desperate, with that look that screamed 'I'm trying to be strong, here' and the tears in her eyes, had Leanna anything, 'Danny, don't go', anything, I wouldn't have gone, I would have stayed right there beside her hospital bed and told Rafe to go on without me  
  


But she just looked up at me with tears glistening in those sparkling emerald eyes and said nothing...  
  


So I walked away...  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


A/N: Mmmkay...that's one more down, and a few to go, I've actually almost got the entire thing written, and once I do, look for the chapters to come out much faster...and I can't stress this enough...PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE REVIEW!! And again, thanks to everyone who has reviewed so far! Look for a new chapter next week!  
  
  
  
  
  


Preview for Chapter 16: Danny and Rafe find out what this whole 'secret mission' is about; Leanna finds out why she got so sick and opens up to Evelyn


	16. The Impossible

Here is the next chapter...Thank you to everyone who reviewed and even read and didn't review, I couldn't do this without you!  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


Chapter XVI-The Impossible  
  
  
  
  
  


  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


Rafe and I sat on a wooden surface, our makeshift bench, staring at the plane sitting a couple hundred feet away in silence, neither of us really knew what to say, there was nothing that could be said to change the severity of the situation  
  


So we sat there  
  


Rafe was waiting for Evelyn, and it was almost time to go, he was beginning to get fidgety, afraid she wasn't going to come, but at that time, Evelyn walked in and I let a breath of relief, the only thing that would have kept Evelyn away from Rafe would have been if something was wrong with Leanna  
  


Immediately Rafe rose and jogged to greet the brunette halfway with a very long kiss, then they headed towards the plane, Rafe wrapped around Evelyn, I took this as my cue to follow behind them, catching up only when they stopped beside the plane in a seemingly eternal embrace that I didn't want to interrupt and when Evelyn finally let go, a single tear rolling down her cheek, Rafe kissed her  
  


Evelyn finally looked over to me, and to my surprise, gave me a tight hug  
  


"You take care of him, ok?" she said softly  
  


I fought off the urge to tell her to take care of Leanna yet again, and simply nodded  
  


"And don't worry, nothing is going to happen to Leanna, I promise" she said  
  


I smiled when she pulled away  
  


"You two come home to me, alright?" she teased seriously, wagging a finger at us  
  


"I'll see you later" Rafe said, giving her a quick kiss before turning sharply and walking to the plane, knowing this was the only way he'd ever be able to leave her, I followed him  
  


I could tell from the moment we got on the plane that Rafe already missed her, the way he was gazing longingly out the window as we took off  
  


Once we were off the ground and the images of below had drifted away, Rafe turned to me with a sigh, he didn't say anything, just looked at me with a bit of a smile before settling down in his seat beside me and leaning his head against the window...  
  
  
  


Ever since Rafe and I had left Leanna at the hospital, it seemed that time ceased to move. Minutes took hours, and hours...they lasted an eternity, and after what felt like three years to me, the plane had landed and Rafe, I, and all the other pilots were lined up inside another hanger being given orders by Colonel Doolittle, I was only half listening, really I was thinking about Leanna and stealing quick glances at Rafe, who was wearing his best poker face, keeping himself void of emotion, but that didn't help.   
  


I had known Rafe my entire life, and it took more than a time-perfected poker face to fool me, I could see he was worried, but as to his exact feelings, well, that was Leanna's field, she could always tell exactly what you were thinking just by looking in your eyes almost instantly, if only Rafe would look at me, I knew what his looks meant, but it wouldn't help unless he looked at me  
  


"...it is highly possible that by the end of this mission, the man beside you could be dead" was the only part I really heard, and that must have been what it took, because at that moment, Rafe looked over and locked eyes with me  
  


That was more like it. We could communicate through looks, like an unwritten language.  
  


His eyes were smiling sarcastically, *I guess that means you're going down, coz I ain't* they said  
  


I couldn't help but look somber, and he knew it, because his gaze softened to a light *Aw, c'mon Danny, I didn't mean it*  
  


I formed an inconspicuous half-smile with my lips, he knew what that meant, *It's ok*, then we both faced forward again, putting our emotions aside once more and listened to the rest of his little speech  
  


"All who are willing to accept this challenge, step forward" he finished  
  


A pause.  
  


And then the hanger erupted with the sound of boots against the concrete, and I looked around to see that everyone, including Anthony, Red, Gooz, and Rafe, had advanced  
  


Suddenly, I wasn't so sure, this was my last chance to turn back, to go and be with Leanna, let Rafe be the hero again, but somewhere inside me, I knew I couldn't do that  
  


A quick look around, a deep breath, and a silent prayer to keep me, Rafe, and Leanna safe, and I joined them...  
  
  
  


  
  


We were definitely a sight, walking out onto the runway in step, about 20 pilots who were going to attempt the impossible  
  
  
  


And that was confirmed as soon as Doolittle opened his mouth. We were supposed to get a plane off the ground before we crossed a red line painted on the runway. Only about half the distance it would have normally taken. It was definitely impossible.   
  


The man, the one that was helping us, or trying, he was telling us to pretty much gut our planes so they would fly better. I couldn't help but shake my head to myself, they were both off their rocker.  
  


And then we actually tried it. Rafe first, and he failed. Miserably.  
  


I went next, and, same as Rafe, rolled over the red line.  
  
  
  
  
  


Many more pilots tried to no avail before the man (I hadn't even bothered to listen to his name, I was to dumbfounded) sent us back to 'lighten' our planes some more.  
  


The whole process took about a week, and we spent the next week trying to get everyone up and over the line. Doolittle and the man proved to us over and over that it was, in fact, possible by doing it on numerous occasions, each time followed by an exasperated sigh and a "Well, if he can do it" from Rafe, followed by him trying again, failing, and the whole process started over  
  


Finally, two weeks from the beginning of the training, even though we were tired and the sun was very hot and standing on the runway made it even hotter, Rafe tried for the fifth time that day, and something happened  
  


He started off fast, the line got closer and closer, I crossed my fingers and said a prayer, and his plane shakily glided, not rolled, over the line  
  


Rafe had done it  
  


There was an instant outburst of cheers from us, the pilots, and Rafe jumped down out of that plane, but he didn't have one of those wild grins like he usually got when we did something dubbed 'impossible'  
  


Instead he walked over to me, a small, smug grin across his face, and with a half-shrug  
  


"Told ya it wasn't impossible"  


~*~

Leanna took a deep breath and sighed shortly, there was nothing wrong with her, so why did Evelyn insist on keeping her in the hospital for two weeks, her reason was that Leanna was so small, only 100 pounds, and that she was weak from not eating and sleeping properly, but personally Leanna thought that Evelyn was hiding something from her

  
  


Even though Leanna had never been pregnant before, somehow she knew something wasn't right, she was 4 months along, and by then, the worst of the morning sickness should have already passed, but it hadn't, if anything, it was worse than ever, her stomach was beginning to show, which was normal, but her baby was in what felt like constant motion, instead of a break, it was all getting worse

  
  


The movement of her baby felt like a butterfly fluttering inside of her stomach, it was exciting, enough to make her heart quicken, and this was one of those times when the fluttering got faster and she rested her hands on her growing belly

  
  


"Shh now, little one" she whispered, but it didn't stop, with a soft smile that her mother had once possessed, she moved one hand in small circles and began to sing quietly an old church hymn that she had heard when she went to church, every Sunday for the first 16 years of her life

  
  


"I'm kind of homesick for a country,

To which I've never been before,

No sad goodbyes will there be spoken

And time won't matter anymore"

  
  


Leanna's voice was high and pretty as she sang softly to the unborn child that she was looking at so lovingly, and with a short pause for breath, she continued

  
  


"Beulah Land, I'm longing for you

And someday on thee I'll stand

There my home shall be eternal

In Beulah Land, Sweet Beulah Land"

  
  


Leanna let her voice slowly drop until it was no more than a soft note drifting around in the empty room, with a deep breath, she realized that the restless fluttering had stopped and looked up

  
  


Much to her surprise, Evelyn was standing at the door smiling

  
  


"Leanna, the doctor is here" she said gently

  
  


Leanna bit her bottom lip in embarrassment and smiled, "I'm ready"

  
  


Evelyn exited and returned a few minutes later with a young woman with straight black hair and hazel eyes wearing a long white coat covering her clothes behind her

  
  


"Hello Ms. Walker, I am Dr. Allison Knight" the lady said

  
  


Leanna only smiled

  
  


"I am an obstetrician, I work on mothers and their babies" she said calmly

  
  


Leanna shot a glance at Evelyn that said 'Who does she think she is? I'm not 4.'

  
  


Evelyn pushed back a laugh and shook her head shortly

  
  


"I'm going to examine you today, starting with a physical examination," Dr. Knight smiled, "I hear you've been having fainting spells, general weakness, tell me if I'm wrong"

  
  


Leanna smiled and nodded, "That's right"

  
  


"Ok, I'm going to do some blood tests, you just sit still" the doctor said, turning to Evelyn and whispering something to which Evelyn nodded, winked at Leanna, and walked off

  
  


Nearly an hour later, Dr. Knight walked back into the room, her look was grim, but not so much to worry Leanna or Evelyn, she approached and sat down on the edge of the bed opposite of Evelyn and spoke

  
  


"Well, Ms. Walker, I have found the source of your problems, you are severely anemic" she said

  
  


Evelyn took a deep breath and looked at Leanna, who didn't look surprised even in the least

  
  


"Your red cell count is dangerously low, I would advise that you get iron supplements through an IV for a week or so, until they stabilize, then you will need to take medicine every day to keep it in check, it's nothing life threatening yet, but if it gets out of control, it may harm your baby" she explained

  
  


Leanna still looked at her, stare unwavering

  
  


"Well, if you'll excuse me, I'll get on with your ultrasound" she said, standing and walking out again, this time to get the machine

  
  


"You knew about this, didn't you!" was Evelyn's stern whisper

  
  


Leanna didn't look up

  
  


"Leanna, you *knew* this could have hurt you and your baby, you're a nurse, you should have *known*!" she was still talking low

  
  


"Ev, I-" Leanna began, but Evelyn cut her off

  
  


"How could you be *so* irresponsible? Huh? Danny and Rafe were worried *sick* about you, and they still are, how could you put them through that?!" she asked in a whisper hushed with anger

  
  


"Listen, I've been anemic most of my life, since I was 12, no one knows, not even Danny, we couldn't have afforded those pills! I wasn't about to put him through that, we were both already getting regular beatings from our father and he didn't need to deal with me being sick too. I dealt with it. I kept it under control. Then it got better. There was no need for him to know, not after all this. Don't talk about things you don't understand *Evelyn*." Leanna finished, eyes burning like fire

  
  


Evelyn sat motionless, thinking of what to say, but she had no more time, because Dr. Knight walked back into the room, pulling the machine behind her

  
  


"Alright, here we go" she smiled, wondering why the two women had such hard looks on their faces

  
  


Ten minutes later and the fuzzy image of a baby was forming itself on the screen, and Dr. Knight was pointing things out

  
  


Head...

  
  


Arm...

  
  


Heart...

  
  


Then she took in a sharp breath..

  
  


"I think I know why you suddenly became anemic" Dr. Knight said, the corners of her mouth curving up

  
  


Evelyn shot a stern look at Leanna, who wasn't looking

  
  


Dr. Knight turned the screen a bit and began tracing something out with the end of her pen

  
  


"See? You're going to have twins"

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


A/N: Eh, I posted this chapter, and then I decided I may as well make it longer...yeah, so, the next chapter will be posted in about a week, so look for it!!  
  


PLEASE REVIEW!

  
  


Preview for the Next Chapter: Danny and Rafe learn the not-so-easy part of their mission; Leanna is on maternity leave and doesn't like it


	17. Eye of the Storm

Hey guys! Sorry it took me so long...I apologize times 1,000,000,000...  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


Chapter XVII-Eye of the Storm  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


~*~

Another week passed and one by one the pilots learned to get off the ground in such a short space, that's when the real training began, we were being taught to fly dangerously low to the ground  
  


It was hard.  
  


It took us a while to learn.  
  


We trained and trained, learning to take off and fly, then to fight, and before we knew it, 3 months had passed...  
  


It was April, and we were heading out to preform the mission that was still a mystery to us  
  


~*~  
  


Leanna, being both pregnant and very anemic, was put on immediate maternity leave after the discovery and spent most of her days in bed for the first few weeks  
  


Finally, it was April. Even though they were in Hawaii, she could still imagine what it would be like in Tennessee, wonderfully warm, not hot or humid, there would be a perfect balance between sun and rain so that everything could turn back to it's original green  
  


This was her thought when she sat outside on some mornings, sipping coffee (even though Evelyn had warned her against caffeine), face facing toward the sun, letting it warm her face

Evelyn walked out, dressed in her morning robe, whispered something into the brunette's ear and handed her something to which Leanna smiled and nodded  
  


She watched Evelyn retreat to the house to change for work, once sure Evelyn was out of seeing range, she took a look at the small white pills in her hand, rolled them over and over in her palm before she raised her closed fist  
  


And threw them unceremoniously into the ocean  
  


~*~  
  


After three months, we were on a ship in the middle of the Pacific being briefed on our mission by Doolittle  
  


A murmur swept through the crowd of pilots like an electric shock when Doolittle told us the news  
  


We were going to fly our planes off of a Navy carrier  
  


Then we would go to Tokyo and bomb it  
  


Then we would fly to China and pray that the Japanese wouldn't find us before the Chinese did  
  


That sealed it, they *were* crazy  
  


But there's a fine line between being crazy and being a genius  
  


I walked out across the runway on the ship to the end after he was finished talking, looking out and over the edge and sighing, I missed Leanna, and that was all there was to it  
  


"Danny?" It was Rafe, he had followed me, I began to mentally curse him when I realized that it was what he'd been doing all our lives, following me when I wandered off to be alone, because as my friend, he wouldn't allow me to be alone to brood  
  


That's what kept me sane  
  


Every time I would try to go off alone and think about all the things that could go wrong, or what would happen to Leanna if either of us died, he would follow me and talk to me, make jokes, I would laugh, and I wouldn't want to think about my life anymore  
  


"Yeah" I said  
  


There was a long pause when neither of us really knew what to say next  
  


I heard Rafe take another few steps toward me, I was still facing the ocean

"Beautiful is fine" that was the best he could come up with? Had I not known him my entire life, I would still think it was crazy how he knew exactly what I was thinking  
  


"Yeah, I hope so" I said, finally turning around and finding, to my surprise, that Rafe was right behind me  
  


"C'mon Danny, if something was bad wrong with her, don't you think at least one of us could feel it?" Rafe had a good point, it made me smile slightly  
  


"You're right, I just really miss her" I said  
  


"Me too, but...she's got Evelyn, Evelyn will take good care of her" he said  
  


There was another pause  
  


"We're going to be ok, you know that?" Rafe said  
  


"Yeah, we can do this, just get in and get out, and go home" I nodded  
  


With a shared smile and slightly lighter hearts, the two of us turned around and began walking back to where the rest of the pilots were announcing the beginning of a poker game  
  
~*~  
  


A/N: eh, I know that was short, but the next chapter will probably be very long...yeah, so PLEASE if you read this REVIEW...this was kinda the calm part...the eye of the storm, the part where everything settles down before the shit hits the fan...stay tuned...

Edit: I'm not sure how often I can update...my aunt is pregnant, and it's not good, it's really worrying me that something bad might happen, and school is starting, but I'll try to update as often as I can...::hugs to all loyal readers::  
  


Preview for Chapter 18: The Raid


	18. The Raid

Mmmkay, hey hey, it's another chapter! I had to divide the raid into like, 3 parts, because it was just to long, I'll try to get the next chapter out to you ASAP!

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


Chapter XVIII-The Raid

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


~*~

  
  


April 18, 1943

  
  


~*~

  
  
  
  
  
  


The air in the ship was beginning to itch with excitement and anticipation, in about 2 days, the hard part of our mission would begin when we flew out over Tokyo and dropped bombs on it

  
  


Rafe and I had done a lot less talking, as the conversations always led to one thing, and that was either Leanna or Evelyn, neither of whom we really wanted to think about, we needed to be completely 100% focused

  
  


This was one of those times, when we would just sit there, I lay on my back in my bottom bunk and Rafe on his stomach in the top one, he was desperately trying to think of something to say, but I was content in my thoughts

  
  


"I wonder if Beautiful will have a boy or a girl?" I said suddenly, completely disregarding the fact that we had agreed to not talk about how we were worried about her, but that wasn't what I was doing

  
  


The sudden outburst of conversation from me took Rafe by surprise and he thought for a moment, playing with his fingernails

  
  


"I don't know" he said finally

  
  


"I hope it's a boy, we can teach him how to fish and how to swim-" I started

  
  


"-and how to fly, and how to charm the ladies" Rafe finished with laughter from us both

  
  


"Plus, if it's a girl, she'll be a heartbreaker, that's for sure" I said with a smile

  
  


"Yeah, a boy would be best, then she could name it Rafe Jr." Rafe smiled

  
  


I shook my head, horrified, "If anything, she'd name it Daniel Jr."

  
  


"What about Daniel Rafe? Will that please you?" Rafe asked, nearly rolling in laughter

  
  


"Yes, Daniel Rafe it is" I said, rolling onto my stomach to clutch it

  
  


Just then, the siren and red light began going off, making a loud, unbearable noise and flashing across the room

  
  


Our laughter immediately stopped and Rafe rolled onto his back with a sigh

  
  


"Damn, another drill?" he groaned

  
  


I sighed deeply and began to roll off of my bed when a pilot I didn't know ran by the door and skidded to a stop

  
  


"Everybody up top! This is not a drill!" he yelled before running on

  
  


The entire room bustled to life, I was on my feet very quickly and already had my pants in my hand when a thud sounded next to me that told me Rafe had jumped from his top bunk

  
  


It only took all of us about five minutes to assemble on the deck, there was a hushed murmur about how we'd been spotted and we'd have to do it now or never, and that would explain why Doolittle and his colleague were running around the deck talking very heatedly

  
  


An order was yelled that told us that this was for real, and that we were about to leave, I wasn't even sure who it was who told us to take everything we didn't absolutely need out of the plane to make room for more fuel, but I did it, and between running back and forth to get fuel cans and ammo and guns, I passed Rafe

  
  


"They're replacing our tail guns with broomsticks" he said, sounding panicked and slightly annoyed

  
  


"Wow. That'll scare 'em" I said, trying to be sarcastic as hard as it was and turning to walk back to my plane

  
  


"Hey Danny" Rafe called from behind me

  
  


I turned around, "Yeah?"

  
  


"Be careful, ok?" he said

  
  


I nodded, "You too"

  
  


"I'll see you in China" he called

  
  


I smirked, "Not if I get there first"

  
  


And walked back to my plane

  
  


The takeoff went as well as could be expected, everyone got off the ground, but then again, they had trained us to do that for 3 months, so it would be bad if one of us didn't make it off the runway

  
  


Japan seemed like so far away, it seemed that we flew for hours, even though it wasn't that long, until we saw the buildings

  
  


Complete organized disorder followed, everyone knew what they were supposed to do, but it seemed so routine, like we had bombed cities and killed people many times before, we hit all of our targets, and once that was done, and we had outflown the guns they were aiming at us, it seemed like we were home free

  
  


With a satisfied nod that we were out of danger, I turned to my crew, "Alright boys, we're going to China" I said with a smile

  
  


That smile quickly faded when I saw, or rather, felt, the planes coming up behind me, pelting us with bullets

  
  


"Holy shit" I cursed under my breath, "Looks like we've got company, hang on!" I said, louder this time over the roar of the engine and the sound of bullets flying over, under, and through the back of the plane

  
  


Upon seeing many more foreign planed scattering the sky, my mind instantly faded from my own situation and to Rafe, was he ok? I couldn't see his plane anywhere

  
  


I searched the sky blindly for any sign of him, and seeing none, reached for the radio and heading in the opposite direction-towards the ocean

  
  


"Rafe?" I yelled into the receiver

  
  


A second passed, then another, and silence seemed to consume the plane

  
  


All thoughts of Leanna vanished from my mind momentarily when I turned the plane away from the vast blue nothingness that stretched as far as the eye could see and back toward the town that was now glowing with orange flames and black smoke rising from the buildings

  
  


"Rafe?! Are you there?" I called again, not meaning to raise my voice

  
  


"I've got Zeros on my tail" a voice said, it was Rafe

  
  


"I'm coming to get you" I said, searching the skies

  
  


"Danny! Go to the water! Get out of here!" he was yelling

  
  


I didn't even answer, he knew I wouldn't leave him alone

  
  


I spotted him and took a quick look back at my crew, who were very ready to shoot the planes, and all of that got two more on our tail before I even reached Rafe

  
  


We tried unsuccessfully to shake them fore ten minutes before Rafe had nearly given up

  
  


"Danny, get up in them clouds!" he yelled to me

  
  


With a quick look around I did what Rafe told me to, disappearing into the clouds with Rafe behind me

  
  


A few minutes of fancy flying and quick shooting and Rafe's voice came again

  
  


"I think we lost them"

  
  


"Yeah, I think so, let's get outta here"

  
  


And as we flew out over the ocean, finally free of the planes that had been following us, I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding and looked down at the blue ocean below me with a light feeling in my heart

  
  


We had made it, the hard part was over, now it was all about getting to China

  
  


I looked down at the fuel gauge and then to where my radar was before realizing that there wasn't one there and sighed

  
  


It was going to be a long trip...

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


That's all for this chapter! I know it seemed to go by...really...fast...but I'm not very good with war scenes, so yeah, anyway, I guess I can post the next chapter sometime next week...

  
  


As this is almost over, it's time to start thinking about the possibility of a sequel? What does everyone think?

  
  


Preview for Chapter 19: Getting to China is harder than they thought...


	19. Blackness

Mmkay guys, this one is a bit short, but I need the next chapter to have some formatting that I can't do with this program and blah blah blah, I'll have the next chapter posted very very soon, maybe even later on tonight...so yah...read on...  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


Chapter XIX-Blackness  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


~*~  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


It had been a while since we set out over the ocean, and I looked down at my gauges for the billionth time and bit my lip  
  


"Hey, how much fuel do we have left?" I asked, not even bothering to face my crew  
  


"We've got half a can, and that's all" the slimmer man said, holding up an obviously light can  
  


"Put them in there" I sighed and picked up the radio  
  


"Rafe, I'm outta fuel, what about you?"  
  


There was some crackling before a voice emerged, "Low, real low" he sighed  
  


"I've got about five minutes and then I'm out, I've gotta bail" I said  
  


"No! Not over water!" Rafe said, sounding panicked  
  


"I'm already almost out, I've got three minutes and then I'm running on fumes" I relayed  
  


"Just hold on a few more minutes and I'll think of something" Rafe said, sounding more and more desperate by the second  
  


I took a breath, this was it, we were going to die out here in the middle of the ocean, I would never see Leanna again, and I wouldn't come home like I promised, I searched in front of me frantically for any break in the water below us, nothing, no land, we were doomed  
  


After a few minutes, I looked down at the gauges again, "I'm out, Rafe, running on fumes" I said quietly  
  


"Just hold on, Danny, c'mon, stay with me!" Rafe said  
  


"I can't, I-" I began, but was cut off by Rafe's excited voice  
  


"Look! It's land! It's China! We're gonna make it!" he said  
  


I looked out ahead and sure enough, through the thick clouds you could see the greenness of land below us  
  


"Ok, Danny, we're gonna land on those rice patties, come down nice and easy" Rafe said, his voice regaining it's calm feeling  
  


I nodded to the invisible Rafe and ran a nervous hand through my hair  
  


"Nice and easy, you first" Rafe instructed as ours, and probably more, planes descended through the clouds and towards the earth below  
  


As soon as we broke through the clouds and caught glimpse of the land below, Rafe noticed something, and I heard him gasp at the end of his last sentence before he clicked off his radio, he must not have realized it  
  


"Danny! Go up! It's Jap Patrols! They're everywhere!" he demanded  
  


I looked down and instantly spotted them on the ground  
  


"Dammit!" I swore, but not into the radio, I was too busy pulling back on the stick as far as I could, pulling just above the trees and the hills, but not high enough to miss the trees on the other side  
  


"Shit! I'm in trouble!" I yelled into the radio as soon as I realized what was happening, but didn't have a second more to think on it, because we dove into the trees, I felt the plane explode beneath me and a blast of heat  
  


And Rafe's voice yelling into the radio was the last thing I heard before I sunk into infinite blackness  
  


~*~  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


Ah...and so ends the shortest chapter in history...I know that for the past few chapters people have been going 'please don't let Danny die' and I almost reconsidered the ending, but I think it's still good, and blah blah, just read the next chapter...but oh! Before that, review this chapter, because...yeah, I want you to...PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE? Review? Maybe? You will? YAY!! And I promise, don't stop reading yet because the true ending hasn't even begun to unfold itself, we still have to see Leanna!  
  
  
  


Preview for Chapter 20: Rafe has to get out of China, but the hard part isn't over yet, and neither are the surprises... 


	20. Full Circle

Okay readers, if you're still reading…I love you to death. If you're mad at me, ::hides:: please don't…and of course, for everyone, please…read on…

Chapter XX—Full Circle

~*~  
  
Rafe had already landed when he saw the great burst of flames that he knew was once Danny's plane, and that shocked him into motion  
  
"DANNY?!" he yelled frantically, knowing that he was so far away there was no way he could hear him, even if he was ok  
  
He could feel the tears springing behind his eyes, but pushed them back, he had to get Danny, Leanna needed Danny, _he_ needed Danny  
  
There were men all around him, pilots, they were, shooting the patrols that advanced on them, Rafe shot his share too, shot at anything that moved with deadly accuracy, and once he felt he was in the clear, began running for the hills, focusing on the dark smoke that rose   
  
Almost halfway there when five patrollers jumped from the field and ran at him, Rafe managed to shoot two of them, but the other three knocked him to the ground and tie his arms behind his back  
  
Rafe looked around fearfully, Danny was gone, no one was there to rescue him from this one, and that's what finally broke his spirit, he didn't fight anymore, not even the thought of Leanna gave him hope, not even Evelyn  
  
~*~  
  
_"Danny!" a soft voice called  
  
Danny stirred a bit and then slowly, painfully, opened his eyes  
  
All around him was infinite white, it neither began nor ended, and it was so peaceful  
  
Danny painstakingly sat up, but lay back down quickly when his head began to spin violently  
  
"Danny!" the soft feminine voice called again from all around him  
  
"H-huh? Who are you? Mom?" Danny called into the void, not really sure where he was supposed to talk to  
  
"Danny, you have to go back. Your girls need you." the voice said again  
  
"Mom! My girls? You mean Leanna and...her baby? Her baby is a girl?" he called  
  
"You have to hurry! Stand up! Walk the other way!" the voice sounded more urgent  
  
The voice seemed to force Danny into a sitting up position, only to have his head violently spin again  
  
"Get up, Danny!" the voice was yelling now  
  
"I can't!" he yelled back  
  
"You _can_" the voice said  
  
Suddenly, Danny felt himself rise to a standing position, feeling rejuvenated, not completely normal, but able to walk  
  
"Now go! You have to hurry! You can't save the boy, but you have to be there for your girls! And Danny, I love you" the voice called  
  
Danny nodded and began walking in the direction the voice told him to go (how he knew was a mystery)  
  
"I love you too, Mom"_  
  
~*~  
  
In Rafe's eyes, all was lost, he felt his body go limp in vanquish and his eyes lost all luster, they now looked dead and hollow  
  
One of the patrollers brought a docile Rafe to his feet while another held the gun up to his head  
  
Rafe closed his eyes and drained two stray tears down his cheeks and waited...  
  
Then there was the sound of a shot fired, and Rafe fell to his knees  
  
But, to his surprise, he wasn't dead...  
  
Instead, the three Zeros around him were laying on the ground, very much dead  
  
"Holy..." he began, but his voice trailed off, "Danny!"  
  
It _was_ him. His clothes were torn and dirty and burned, and a cut on his head was gushing blood, but Rafe wanted nothing more than to hug him…

~*~  
  
My whole body hurt so bad, all I wanted was to go home, and I turned to Rafe  
  
"Can we go?" I asked, and went to take a step, but as I did so, it felt like all of the energy was suddenly drained from my body and I fell, hitting the ground with a large thud  
  
"Danny!" Rafe yelled  
  
"Oww, it hurts" I groaned  
  
"You're going to be fine, ok?" Rafe said, I knew he was only trying to assure himself  
  
My eyes were so heavy, I just wanted to sleep, and that's what I planned to do, until Rafe's voice sounded again  
  
"Listen to me, Danny, you're going to be fine! You have to be fine! For Beautiful!" he yelled  
  
"Danny...please don't leave me, please..." Rafe was crying, I forced my eyes open to look at him  
  
"I...I think it's time, Rafe" I strained to say  
  
"No it isn't, Beautiful needs you! I need you..." he cried  
  
"You never could accept reality, Rafe, tell Beautiful I love her, and kiss her baby for me, it's gonna be a girl, you know" I choked out before closing my eyes, they were so tired, and I only needed to close them for a second  
  
"No! Danny! Open your eyes!" I heard Rafe yell  
  
But it was too late, and as much as I wanted to, I couldn't open my eyes  
  
~*~

I didn't know how long I had been asleep...maybe it was hours, maybe days, who knows, but when I did wake, it was night  
  
Actually, it was so dark that for a moment I thought I might have actually died, but that theory was thrown out as soon as I felt the excruciating pain in my side and the dull throbbing of my head  
  
Painfully, I tried to raise my head, even just a bit to see where I was  
  
That's when I realized that I was in a hospital  
  
Was I home?  
  
I heard soft breathing coming from in the corner beside me and tried to shift my head to look at its source, knowing there was only one person that would be sitting in a hospital ward with me in the dead of night  
  
"Rafe?" I tried to whisper, but it came out slightly louder than I had expected  
  
To that, the body in the corner jumped to life with a snort, "What? Who's that? Danny?" he was rambling in his half-asleep state  
  
"It's me" I said, controlling my voice better this time  
  
"Danny! Are you ok?" he said, clambering to the floor and crawling up beside my bed  
  
"Well, at first my head was throbbing, but luckily that subsided when the searing pain in my side kicked in" I said, trying to be sarcastic, but from the look on Rafe's face, failing miserably  
  
"Someone's in a chipper mood, aren't they?" he retorted  
  
"Sorry, I just-" I started to say something, but thought better of it and changed my train of thought, "what time is it?"  
  
"A little before midnight" Rafe said, obviously he, too, was ready to drop the subject  
  
"So I've been out for...about 6 hours?" I asked, reaching up and touching my bandaged head  
  
"No," Rafe said, the sadness in his eyes glinting off the soft moonlight, "You've been out for two days, Danny"  
  
I sucked in a sharp breath, "I..I was...what?"  
  
"You were out, well, you would move around and once or twice you opened your eyes, but only for a second" he explained  
  
"Well then, we're still in China?" I asked slowly  
  
Rafe nodded, "Do you think you're strong enough to walk? You were the last to wake up, as soon as you're strong enough, we've got to leave"  
  
"As in, now?" I asked, wondering if my legs even worked anymore  
  
"Yeah, the nurse will give you some pain medicine for the flight home, but we really need to go before they find us" he said  
  
I thought for a few moments, testing my legs silently under the blanket and finding that, with much pain, they still worked  
  
"I think I can move, if you help me" I said  
  
Rafe nodded again, "I'll get the nurse, she'll give you some painkillers and I'll round up the boys...Danny, we're going home"   
  
Even in the darkness, I could tell that he was smiling, and I couldn't help but smile back  
  


  
~*~

Yes…everything goes full circle…so Danny is ok…I hope everyone is quite happy about that…and now we have about 2 chapters left…the whole going home part…how exciting…

Preview for Chapter 21:  The boys get home…finally…and Evelyn is waiting to greet them…

Oh yes…did you think I'd forget? **PLEASE PLEASE REVIEW!!!!!**


	21. Homecoming

Alrighty now…here's another chapter, I hope that everyone's enjoying it and everything, and I got more reviews than I've gotten in a long time…so here you go…

Chapter XXI--Homecoming

__

"Don't cry for me when you see that I'm missing,

I'm finally on my way home,

Homecoming day will be worth all the waiting

I am ready now to soar…"

--Homecoming Day

Evelyn's heart thudded in her chest as she watched the plane land, she was surrounded by other people, wives, sisters, brothers, children, all waiting for the same fate as her, would their loved ones step off of that plane?

Evelyn was different, though, because no matter if one or both came back, she had dim news for them, she sent two over there, and she was trying to mentally prepare herself to lose at least one, but as long as she got one of them back, she could survive, but could they? Could they take losing both of their best friends? 

That was, of course, if one didn't come home, she looked up and saw that the plane had landed, and the door had opened, her heart beat faster, and she didn't know if she was going to be able to stand, a few pilots quickly got off the plane, and Evelyn's heart dropped, no sign of Rafe or Danny

Her breath quickened though as a leg stepped from the door of the plane, everything seemed to move in slow motion as Evelyn followed the leg up to the face it belonged to, she almost fell when her eyes met with a set of deep brown ones, Rafe's eyes

Then a larger smile spread across her face _Rafe wouldn't have let anything happen to Danny, if Rafe's back, Danny's back too _she reasoned blindly within her mind, at the same time trying to get her legs to move forward

But her legs wouldn't move, because she saw the look in Rafe's eyes, a dimness, a lack of life, like a piece of him _…is missing_, Evelyn thought, her smile fading

She looked up, still not able to move, and searched his eyes for an answer, and the answer came, when he turned around and took someone's arm, that someone who limped out of the plane after Rafe, was the honey-haired blue eyed pilot, his upper-midsection wrapped in white gauze with a small orange-red spot on his right rib cage, and a few more bumps and bruises

It was Danny

Evelyn smiled and finally regained her ability to move her legs, and proceeded to run to the three, jumping on Rafe and kissing him, then turning to Danny

"What happened? Are you ok?!" she demanded,

"My plane crashed, nothing major" Danny explained with a light smile

"Nothing major? You almost died!" Rafe said, looking at Evelyn, "Wait, you _did_ die" he reminded himself

"We had to revive you" he was now talking to Evelyn instead of Danny

Danny was now looking around with a confused expression

Evelyn took a deep breath and looked at the ground, knowing what he was looking for

"Where's Beautiful?" he asked, "I can't wait to see her, I missed her so much"

Evelyn couldn't bring herself to look up, mostly because she had tears in her eyes

Rafe was the first to catch on

"Evelyn? Where is Beautiful?" he insisted

Evelyn continued to look at the ground and tried to form a sentence, but it only came out as a series of "Uh"s and "Um"s

"Well, uh, um-" she stammered

"Evelyn. Tell us." Danny said, sounding very urgent

And quite suddenly, Evelyn lost all interest in the sentence she was trying to form, and the English language in general, and continued staring at the ground as if it held all the secrets of the universe

Quickly realizing that something was wrong, Danny and Rafe began to get frantic, they stood there, both contemplating what they should say next

Evelyn took a deep breath, inhaling the tears into her tear ducts and finally regaining the use of her mouth, "Let's go over here" she said, leading them over to a place beside the building

"Evelyn, Beautiful?" Danny said

"Ok, uh-" Evelyn started, taking a deep breath, "Leanna has been severely anemic for most of her life, but she hid it from you both, that was, uh, why she fainted before you left"

Danny and Rafe nodded

"See, she's been controlling it through her eating, but when she got pregnant, it became harder to control, and she was so anemic that she delivered prematurely...3 days ago"

"Then she's already had the baby? She's going to be so mad at me, I promised I'd be here" Danny sighed, running a hand through his hair

Evelyn suppressed a sob and shook her head, "She was so little, she lost so much weight, and she was pregnant with twins, and when she had them, she lost so much blood, she was so tiny and so weak" at this point Evelyn avoided looking at the shocked look in their eyes and she had tears in her own

"She lost so much blood, and we tried so hard, we did, but...she was just to little, we couldn't save her" 

At this, she saw Danny's knees buckle, but Rafe caught him, "Oh my god" Danny whispered

"No, Evelyn don't joke like that, she's ok, she wasn't supposed to have the baby until July" Rafe said

"I'm so sorry, but she died, I'm so sorry" Evelyn was fully crying now, "I tried so hard, I tried for an hour, if I had made her take the pills, I should have watched her"

"What?" Rafe asked, finally feeling that Danny had enough strength to stand on his own and going to embrace Evelyn

"I gave her pills, I thought she'd take them, but she didn't, I know she didn't" Evelyn sobbed into Rafe's shoulder

"It was her" Danny whispered suddenly, tears rolling down his cheeks

Both Rafe and Evelyn looked up

"I saw her, when my plane crashed, I was in this...whiteness, and there was a voice, I thought it was my mom, she said that I couldn't stay, and she showed me the way back" he was talking through sobs now, "She said my girls needed me, I thought it was Mom, I thought she meant Leanna and her baby"

"Her girls...the twins, they were both girls" Evelyn said quietly

A moment passed while the three cried on each other

"I can't believe it" Rafe whispered, wiping at the tears rolling down his face, "Our Beautiful, she's gone"

"I should have been here" Danny said, "I should have never left"

"There was nothing you could've done, it was like she knew, and she was ready, and there was nothing that was going to stop her" Evelyn said sadly

"That's Beautiful for you" Danny tried to smile but failed

"She left you with more than memories, you have the twins…" Evelyn added

"They're ok?" Rafe asked, looking up from his hands

Evelyn nodded, forcing a smile

"Can we see them?" Danny asked

Evelyn nodded again, "Of course"

Gently placing herself in between the two boys and putting an arm around them both, she tenderly guided them in the direction of the hospital  


A/N: ::sigh:: I know, I know, there's not much to say, except that there's about 1 chapter and an epilogue left, and then I'll probably write a sequel…we've got 2 choices for titles, so in your review, let me know which you would like:

"Emerald"

Or

"Honey in the Rock"

Also, the lyrics at the beginning are from a song that I've been singing in church since…forever, and it's called Homecoming Day and yeah…I thought it fit…until next time…**PLEASE REVIEW!!!**

Preview for Chapter 22: Danny and Rafe make it to the hospital


	22. Tears

Hey people! It's me again, here with the last chapter before the epilogue, so all I can say is enjoy!

Chapter XII--Tears

~*~  
  
The walk to the hospital was the longest walk I had ever taken, every step only brought more pain in my side, but that was the last thing on my mind, as we neared the hospital, it hit home, my baby sister was dead, and the blind tears that had been rolling down my cheeks were replaced by tears of pure sadness

We walked into the hospital, through Ward 5, the whole time I was almost expecting Leanna to jump out from behind the door and tell me that she was fine, and show me my new nieces, but I realized that wasn't going to happen as Evelyn lead me and Rafe into a dark room lit only by the light coming from two incubators in the middle, it seemed that even the room was somber as it held the miracle twins

"We, um, we borrowed the incubators from the civilian hospital in the city, since we don't have any of our own" Evelyn explained, I didn't blame her, the eerie silence surrounding the room was to much

Suddenly, I wasn't sure if I could take another step, seeing the babies would mean that Leanna was really dead, and I just wasn't ready to accept that, I stopped dead in my tracks, choking back a sob which caused Evelyn, who was out in front, and Rafe, who was only a step or two ahead of me, to look at me, Evelyn's gaze softened

"Are you sure you want to see them now?" she asked

I nodded, it was all I could manage, my feet felt like bricks as I took another step forward, catching up beside Rafe, and we walked side-by-side until we were standing at the end of the incubators, I looked inside each, seeing the forms of two premature baby girls, both with pink bonnets and wrapped in pink blankets, the first thing I noticed was how small they were, they were so tiny that I was scared to touch them for fear of hurting them, I looked down at a little piece of paper taped to one of the incubators, 'Walker B', her birth weight was only 3 pounds 3 ounces, the other, 'Walker A', was 3 pounds 1 ounce, next I noticed their eyes, both shared their mother's fiery green eyes, then one had brunette curls and the other blonde curls

"Do you want to hold them?" Evelyn asked

I looked from Evelyn to Rafe, then back to Evelyn

"Sure"

Evelyn very carefully opened the top of the incubator of the smaller brunette and gently lifted the baby, who began moving her arms and gave a soft coo, then walked over to me

"Hold her close, but don't squeeze" she said, shifting the baby from her arms to mine

The baby felt awkward in my arms and I instantly gasped when she locked eyes with me and opened her toothless mouth in a wail, I looked up at Evelyn, scared that I had somehow hurt her, Evelyn smiled, turning to a small half refrigerator and pulling out a small bottle of milk with a tiny nipple

"Here, sit down" she said, looking to a rocking chair sitting to the side

I gently backed up, being careful not to fall, and sitting down in the chair

"Hold this" she handed me the bottle, "And she feeds very well, so just hold it still and she'll do the rest"

I held the bottle down close to her mouth, she opened her mouth and accepted the bottle slurping nosily on it, I smiled, looking down at my niece and beginning to rock back and forth gently, I wasn't a very good singer, but I began to softly sing Leanna's favorite song, the song I would sing her to sleep with when we were younger, even though I swore I couldn't sing

__

"You're a sweet little baby,

You're a sweet little baby,

Honey in the rock and the sugar don't stop,

Gonna bring a bottle to the baby"

By the time I stopped singing, the baby brunette girl had closed her eyes and was quietly suckling on her bottle, I smiled again, she looked exactly like I remembered Leanna as a baby

"She's so beautiful" I whispered to Rafe, who had joined me beside the rocking chair and was looking down at the sleeping baby

"She looks just like Beautiful" Rafe whispered

"She's so tiny, it's a miracle she's alive" 

"What should we should name them?" Rafe suggested

"Grace" I said, still smiling at the sleeping baby, "Gabrielle Grace"

"I like it" Rafe said, "But what about the blonde?"

I looked over into the incubator at the little baby with the white-blonde hair, she was the bigger of the two, but still, so fragile, like a flower...a lily, Leanna's favorite

"Lilian" I said simply

Rafe thought for a moment and then smiled, "Lillian Mercedes"

I nodded

"Lily and Grace Walker" Rafe said 

"Our girls" I said

"When can we go back to Tennessee?" Rafe asked, now looking at Evelyn

"The girls need to stay here at least another week, then they should be ok" she said

"You hear that, Grace? We're going home very soon" I cooed to the small baby now sleeping in my arms

And suddenly, I realized that Leanna knew all along

She knew she was going to die, and that's why she never told me not to go on that mission

She knew that if I was here when she died, I would be even more devastated

She knew that I needed to be strong so I could raise her girls

She was so strong, so smart...and so stubborn

A final tear ran down my cheek and dripped onto Grace's velvet head, no, not the last, the tears would come later

A soft breeze seemed to blow through the room, even though there were no windows or any source of wind, and I could almost hear a soft whispered voice

__

"Danny, take care of my girls for me"

Yes, the tears would wait

~*~

A/N: Okay, next is the epilogue! How exciting! I got a nice review rate for the last chapter, so let's try to maybe keep that going, maybe please? Hehe, I hope you've liked this! And to MWPP, I can just say ::girlish squeal:: I think we might be twins. I'm such a Marauder's girl. Ok, that's all of the randomness, the next and final chapter will be up soon, so **PLEASE PLEASE P.L.E.A.S.E. Review!!!! **

Preview for Chapter 23: 4 years into the future; a look at Evelyn, Rafe, Danny, and, of course, Lily and Grace


	23. Goodbye

Epilogue time! Thanks at the end!

Chapter XXIII--Goodbye (Epilogue)

~*~

April 17, 1945

The gray sky was crying large, icy tears over the small Tennessee farmhouse on the four year anniversary of Leanna's death

The massive trees that bordered the edge of the property were bowed with the weight of the raindrops

It came to my attention, as I walked out across one of the fields, that this sight was very beautiful, not beautiful in the conventional sense, but beautiful in the fact that it was so *real*, it proved the sun couldn't always shine

I had no need for an umbrella, my hair was soaked and my clothes were sticking to my skin, raising chill bumps on my skin

I probably would have cared had I even noticed

I walked in the short grass, listening to the rain making a soft pit-pat on the ground, until I found the place I was looking for, stationed on top of a hill overlooking the whole farm and under a tall oak tree, where I could be completely alone

The granite stone was neither elaborate or grand, just a small gray stone, but that didn't matter

I knelt on the wet earth and traced the inscription gently, not that I even had to look, I had memorized it during my long visits to this very place in the past years

__

Leanna Celeste Walker

February 25, 1924-April 17, 1943

Our Beautiful

That was all it said...that was all it needed to say, any more words would be mocking her memory, because no words could even come close to describing her

"Hey Beautiful" I said softly, almost ashamed of myself for talking to a slab of rock

I sighed, as if waiting for an answer, and moved to lean against the tree

"The twins turned four today," I continued talking, "They're so beautiful, they're just like you , they get into plenty of trouble" I chuckled slightly at the memory of the escapades Leanna, Rafe, and I had during our youth

"I wish you could see them, I know you can, but I mean, I wish you could hold them, they're making you proud, they're making me proud...I told them all about you, Leanna, I told them their mom was a hero" I was almost to the point of tears now, "Because you are, and I love you so much"

With a long breath, I drew in the tears, no more tears, Leanna wouldn't want it that way, if she were here, she would say 'Oh Danny, quit your blubbering, you're being a sap, now, you up for a game of chicken?'

I smiled at the thought, letting the rest of my weight fall against the tree, leaning on it fully, the wet leaves were creating their own little mini-rainstorm under the tree, but I didn't mind

I looked out towards the house again, still lost in thought, and saw two bobbing heads coming towards me–one brunette, one blonde and both curly–trekking through the tall grass, and now drenched wet, along with their matching dresses, made exactly alike, one light pink and one light green, those were my nieces

"What are to two doing? You're soaked to the bone!" I said, maybe more harsh than I meant to be

"We come find you" Lily, the bolder of the two, spoke

"And Uncle Rafe let you leave?" I asked

Grace, the brunette, looked shyly up to Lily, the blonde, who, as requested, spoke, "No, Unca Rafe say 'stay inside.' but we come find you and Mommy" she said

Rafe and Evelyn were probably too busy with each other to be properly watching the children, which I couldn't blame them, they would soon be celebrating their second wedding anniversary

"I see, but you're both going to catch cold out here in the rain, let's go inside" I said gently, spreading my arms, to which they ran

I scooped them both up, one on each hip, and turned toward Rafe's, and in my later teen years–my, childhood home

After the death of Rafe's parents, he had inherited the house and all the land they owned, being the only child

I, on the other hand, had inherited my father's house and land, but it housed too many bad memories, and I quickly had the house demolished and moved in with Rafe and Evelyn, to complete our family, and the combined property we owned stretched now even over the hill

When I stepped out from under the tree, I realized that it, in fact, had stopped raining, the only reminders that there had ever been rain there was the wet grass and the darkened sky

I smiled, looking at the two kids who were much to old to be carried around, but in my eyes they were still my little babies, and I still carried them around

Grace was the smaller one, shy and reserved, she looked most like Leanna, but reminded me more of Leanna in her later days, when she was somber and quiet

Lily was Leanna. She may not have looked like her, other than the green eyes the twins shared, but she was loud and adventurous and bold, just like Beautiful

After we got the twins back to Tennessee, Evelyn made a discovery–the lily flower is the symbol of innocense, purity...and death

My smile widening at the irony in her name, I softly kissed my nieces' foreheads and then turned back to the stone at the base of the sweeping oak, "Say bye-bye to Mommy" I said

"Bye Mommy" Lily yelled first

And after Lily's voice drifted away, only then did Grace turn and wave, "Bye bye Mommy" she said, her voice not echoing as loudly as Lily's did

"Unca Danny, will you sing to us and Mommy?" Lily asked, eyeing me with those beautiful eyes

I never have been able to sing except to Leanna when she was a baby, and to my nieces, and for some reason, they loved it when I sang to them, the same song I had been singing since we got back home to Tennessee, the same song I had sang to Leanna so many years before

With a smile, I stopped and cleared my throat

"_Go to sleep little baby,_

Go to sleep little baby,

Your momma's gone away but your daddy's gonna stay

Didn't leave nobody but the baby

Go to sleep little baby,

Go to sleep little baby,

Everybody's gone in the cotton and the corn

Didn't leave nobody but the baby

You're a sweet little baby,

You're a sweet little baby,

Honey in the rock and the sugar don't stop

Gonna bring a bottle to the baby"

I turned and continued to walk towards the house singing, taking only a few steps before stopping and turning around, pretending I was looking at Leanna's happy face again but knowing inside that I was only staring into nothingness

"Goodbye, Beautiful"

__

Go to sleep little baby,

Go to sleep little baby,

You and me and the devil makes three

Don't need no other lovin baby

Go to sleep little baby,

Go to sleep little baby,

Come lay your bones on the alabaster stones

And be my everlovin baby...

~*~

__

finis

~*~

Before I get into the thanks and stuff, the song is an old old old Southern lullaby that I know by heart, since it was sang to me when I was a baby, and it was also in the movie O Brother Where Art Thou, along with some other songs that will be appearing in the sequel. 

A/N: Yay! It's done! It's been so great! I love you all who have read or reviewed, and those who did both, you're my energy, you're what makes me want to post this. I love to write, I would write no matter what, but reviews give me a _reason_ to write. I can't even begin to express how much you all mean to me and to every other writer out there…if there were no reviewers, there would be no fanfiction, you're our life force, what keeps us going…

I also have to thank the other authors out there, not in this fandom, but in the others I read too, I have a tendency to be compelled to write after I read an exceptionally good fic, only wishing I could be as good as that writer…and now, to thank my loyal reviewers, thanks guys, you're the greatest!

Greenfaerie

Robyn7626 

Honeybear2

Dawn Smith

Iluvjosh82

Heat

Spanish Rose

MWPP (who is my twin when it comes to fandoms) 

Thank you all! If I forgot to mention you, please don't be offended, I love each and every one of you and I'm eagerly waiting until I finish the first chapter of "Emerald" so that I can hear all of your input again! 

Again, look out for Emerald, which should be coming at you in about a month, if I'm on schedule with my writing and all!

I love you all! Thank you! Anytime you want to contact me to ask me something, or just to talk or whatever, I'm always happy to talk to people who like my work, so e-mail me at Silverfox41988@aol.com or Padfootsmaitaigirl@yahoo.com or you can always IM me at Silverfox41988


End file.
